Nearly two months of busy work went by before some slight progress had been made. Practically all the forces in the Star Boundary came out to help. Even the Great Emperors were not idle during this period.
Duan Hong Chen had transferred countless living creatures from the Lower Star Fields to the four territories of the Star Boundary. At present, all the inhabitable areas in the Star Boundary had been filled with life. Yang Kai also set up Space Arrays at all the places where living creatures were gathered. In addition, the fifty-five Star Boundary armies had been dissolved, with their members free to choose a new place to settle down according to the origins of their Sects and Clans.
Yang Kai used a Secret Technique to rebuild the landscape of High Heaven Palace, and although he managed to restore up to 70 or 80% of High Heaven Palace’s original appearance, it was still far from how it was like in the past. Unfortunately, it was not something that would take effect in a short time. Like the Star Boundary’s recovery, the effects would be accumulated over a long period of time.
Lan Xun returned to the Southern Territory with the remaining survivors of Star Soul Palace and set about its revival. When they were about to part ways, she came to pay a special visit to express her gratitude. Xiao Chen came with her as well, looking ashamed of himself.
He had been bewitched by Great Demon God earlier and during a critical moment in the final battle, he had launched a sneak attack on Yang Kai together with Li Shi Qing. He almost caused an irreparable mistake and was injured by Yang Kai in the end. Although it was not his original intention to carry out the sneak attack, he would not have been eroded by the Demon Spirit if his heart had not been swayed.
After that experience, Xiao Chen seemed to have become a lot more mature. He had lost his former fastidious but arrogant manner. It was as though he had lost some of his edges. It was hard to say whether it was a blessing or a curse. He had yet to heal from his injuries, but those injuries did not leave any hidden dangers behind, so there would be a day when he recovered fully as long as he took a good rest in the future.
Army after army and batch after batch of people left High Heaven Palace to scatter across the Star Boundary. Two months later, only the original disciples remained in High Heaven Palace. After experiencing such a disaster, less than 60,000 remained of the more than 100,000 disciples of High Heaven Palace. That was also only because Yang Kai placed many of them into the Small Sealed World in advance to avoid the catastrophe since most of the disciples in High Heaven Palace had only cultivated for a short time and were lacking in strength.
If High Heaven Palace was in such a situation, it was easy to understand how the other Sects were faring. Saying that nine houses out of ten in the Star Boundary were empty was not an exaggeration. It was the actual situation. For the people who survived the infernal ordeal of war, the tranquillity after the war felt extremely surreal. Be that as it may, they cherished the current stability even more.
The enormous Giant Spirit God ate noisily in the void. Yang Kai turned into his large Dragon Form and sat cross-legged in front of the giant. Picking up a huge wineskin, he guzzled down the contents. The sweet smell of alcohol permeated the air.
After drinking for some time, he turned to look at Ah Da and blew out a breath of air that smelled strongly of wine. The smell of alcohol made Ah Da frown. The Giant Spirit God did not seem to eat anything else other than Dead Worlds and natural products. Yang Kai had tried to cajole him into drinking some wine before, but he staunchly refused the offer. He also seemed to be highly repulsed by the aroma of wine.
“Ah Da, do you have a better solution for the situation regarding my home?”
This was the third time Yang Kai came to chat with Ah Da. The first time, Ah Da had not responded at all. The second time, he seemed to understand what Yang Kai was asking but did not give an answer, only saying that he would think about it. Thus, this was the third time.
When Ah Da heard the question, he laughed and continued to chew non-stop.
“Don’t just eat! Come on! You have to help me think of a solution!” Yang Kai stared at Ah Da speechlessly.
“Hehe!”
The corners of Yang Kai’s mouth twitched slightly and he couldn’t help cursing for a moment. Then, he laughed again, “It’s rare to be as carefree as you are every single day. Tell me; do you have any siblings? Ruo Xi mentioned that the Giant Spirit God is a Race. If you are a Race, you can’t be the only member, right?”
Ah Da blinked. Raising his mountain-like fingers, he frowned deeply and used his fingers to count something with a serious look on his face. It was just that he could not come up with an answer despite counting for a long time.
Likewise, Yang Kai could not figure out the answer to his question either. He pressed his hand against his forehead in frustration, “Forget it! Forget it! You can take your time counting and thinking of an answer. Why don’t you tell me when I visit you again next time?”
While speaking, he stood up, looked in the direction of the Star Boundary, and grinned, “There’s a joyous event waiting for me there. It’s not good for me to be late, so I’ll be going now. Bye!”
After saying that, he headed towards the Star Boundary with large strides.
“World Tree!” A thunderous voice spoke like a whisper suddenly came from behind.
Yang Kai abruptly stopped in his tracks and turned back to look at Ah Da, “What did you say?”
However, Yang Kai was greeted by the sight of Ah Da frowning so deeply that his eyebrows formed three deep canyons. Ah Da was still vigorously counting with his fingers. How could he have spoken just then?
Yang Kai almost thought that he had been hallucinating. Be that as it may, that voice definitely belonged to Ah Da. He could not be mistaken about that. Scrutinising the other party for a bit, Yang Kai gave up on the idea of getting to the bottom of this matter. Instead, he silently made a mental note of the words ‘World Tree’ before he turned around, waved goodbye, and continued forward.
Azure Sun Temple in the Southern Territory.
Similar to High Heaven Palace, Azure Sun Temple was in ruins. This place had also once been a battlefield. The Demon Race army had invaded, the Spirit Peaks had collapsed, and Demon Essence had corrupted it.
Nevertheless, the situation here was much better than the situation at High Heaven Palace. The vicinity of High Heaven Palace had been the place where the final battle had taken place after all. The terrifying fallout that swept across that land had caused the surrounding ten thousand kilometres to become empty, unstable, and covered in cracks. In comparison, the overall landscape of this place had been preserved even though it might be slightly rundown.
After being fixed by Bustling World Great Emperor himself, Azure Sun Temple could be said to have been completely restored. The only difference was that the World Energy was not as rich as it was originally. There was no helping this. Most of the world’s Auspicious Spirit Essence was gone, so it was only natural that the World Energy would be greatly affected as a result. These effects would not return to normal until the Auspicious Spirit Essence was replenished.
At this moment, brightly-lit lanterns and decorations adorned the entire Azure Sun Temple. The sounds of beating gongs and drums mixed together, making the entire atmosphere extremely lively. All the Spirit Peaks were also decorated in bright-red festive colours.
There was no helping it. Today was the wedding day of Azure Sun Temple’s Temple Master, Wen Zi Shan. Prior to the Two Worlds Great War, Wen Zi Shan had been the Temple Master of Azure Sun Temple in the Southern Territory. He was a respected and powerful individual who had friends all over the world. After the war between the two worlds broke out, he had taken up the post of Army Commander and made even more friends during that period.
In addition, this auspicious event was the first joyous celebration to take place in the Star Boundary after the war. Azure Sun Temple was filled with guests as practically anybody who was somebody in the Star Boundary had shown up; there were no exceptions. Even most of the Great Emperors were present.
The Star Boundary currently needed such an auspicious event to inspire the people. This joyous event was needed to wash away the painful past of this war-torn world; therefore, Wen Zi Shan’s wedding today was being celebrated in full swing across the entire Star Boundary. It could be said to be the Star Boundary’s largest event in history.
When Yang Kai rushed over to Azure Sun Temple, the disciples of the Temple were busy working outside the mountain gate of the Sect to greet and usher their guests inside without pause. They guided the guests into the Temple, one by one, and settled them into a suitable seat to wait for the banquet to begin.
Yang Kai instantly felt the auras of several Great Emperors up above. They were hiding behind a certain mountain peak and after glancing in that direction, he clearly felt their gazes on him. Zhan Wu Hen’s question immediately sounded in his ears, “How is it? Did you manage to learn anything?”
“World Tree. I don’t know anything else,” Yang Kai replied.
“World Tree?” Inside the hall on the mountain peak, Zhan Wu Hen frowned with a pensive expression. He turned to look to his left and right. Unfortunately, both Duan Hong Chen and Mo Huang shook their heads slowly to indicate that they had never heard of it.
“I’ll go back and ask Ruo Xi later. She might know something.” Yang Kai replied via voice transmission.
Zhan Wu Hen nodded, “That’s all we can do anyway.”
Be that as it may, Yang Kai’s attempt this time was still better than the last two attempts. He had asked the same question the past two times only to return empty-handed. At least, he learned about the World Tree this time. This item might just be the key item to restoring the Star Boundary to normal. It was just that… Judging by the name, it appeared to be a tree! Where would he find it!?
After a brief exchange with Zhan Wu Hen, Yang Kai did not enter through the Main Gate. With his current status, going through the gate would only cause some unnecessary commotion. Besides, Azure Sun Temple was practically his second home. There was no need to inform anybody about his return home.
Turning to look to the side, he saw a Spirit Peak surrounded by a purple aura. Purple bamboo grew all over the mountain and the huge bamboo forests were dressed with bright red satin. Brightly-lit red lanterns hung from the eaves of the front door in a continuous line. The ground was covered with red carpet. Many people hustled and bustled about, going in and out in droves. It was Purple Bamboo Peak, Gao Xue Ting’s Spirit Peak.
With a flicker of his body, Yang Kai entered the Spirit Peak directly and came to stand in front of a certain building. Smiling slightly, he cupped his fists and greeted, “Senior Sister Gao, Junior Brother is here to congratulate you.”
The noise inside the building subsided all of a sudden and the entire place fell silent. Even the family members on the bride’s side who were hurrying about with their tasks abruptly stopped in their tracks and looked over in unison.
In the next moment, a group of flirtatious and alluring women rushed out of the building. Some Yang Kai knew, some he had never met before; however, they all gave an elegant bow and greeted him at the same time, “Greetings, Senior Void!”
Yang Kai nodded, stretched out his hand, and lifted his hand slightly. A gentle force spread out, helping everyone lift their heads. Then, he strode forward to enter the building.
“What are you doing!?” A beautiful figure immediately came to block his way. Yu Ru Meng’s eyes were blazing with fury as she looked him up and down with a look of vigilance.
“I’m here to give a wedding gift!” He blinked, “Why are you stopping me, Ru Meng?”
She sneered, “Can you use your brains a little!? Even I, who was born in the Demon Realm, know that the bride cannot meet any male guests before the wedding ceremony. What are you trying to do here?”
Yang Kai smilingly replied, “But, I’m part of the bride’s family. Can’t I come to give my wedding gifts and send her off?”
“No! Of course not!” She pressed her hand against his chest to stop him.
Yang Kai was not deterred, however, and argued, “You are a female Demon Saint. Why are you being so particular? Move aside, move aside. I haven’t seen how the bride looks in her wedding dress yet. That’s why I came here to see her.”
Yu Ru Meng was steadfast though and refused to budge, “You can see it during their wedding ceremony. Not now.”
While speaking, she summoned Su Yan and the others. Su Yan, Luo’er, and all the others came the moment they were called. In the blink of an eye, Yang Kai was surrounded by several of his wives.
Su Yan spoke up immediately, “Husband, Senior Sister Gao will not see you at this time. If you have any gifts, Brother-in-Law can convey them on your behalf.”
“You’re rebelling against me!” He laughed.
Shan Qing Luo said, “It’s not that easy to see how the bride looks in her wedding dress. When we return though, we sisters can dress up and show you one by one. I just wonder if you have this interest, husband.”
Xia Ning Chang and Xue Yue’s eyes lit up with anticipation at those words.
“Uh…” Yang Kai touched his nose, “If I think about it carefully, I should be part of the groom’s family today. I should probably go to Temple Master Wen’s side instead.”
After saying that, he turned to leave.
Yu Ru Meng grabbed him by the shoulder, however, and demanded, “You can leave, but the wedding gifts stay.”
He abruptly turned to look at her, “Whose side are you on?”
She sneered, “Today, we sisters are on the bride’s side!”
Speechless, Yang Kai could only leave the wedding gifts that he prepared beforehand behind. Only then could he make his escape. Since he could not meet the bride, his only other option was to go and visit the groom. The groom was on another Spirit Peak not far away, so he arrived in just a few steps.
A few disciples of the Temple like Xia Sheng and Xiao Bai Yi were waiting outside the room. Wen Zi Shan was the only person inside the room. Everybody was about to greet Yang Kai with a bow, but he raised a hand to stop them before pushing the door open and entering to see Wen Zi Shan sitting primly inside.
Wen Zi Shan was wearing an auspicious bright red robe with a huge red sash across his chest. He looked pensive and sighed constantly, seeming to be very apprehensive and nervous. When he lifted his head and saw Yang Kai, he immediately got to his feet, “You’re here, Senior Void.”
Yang Kai walked over to Wen Zi Shan, pressed the latter back into his chair, and sat down together. He studied the other party with interest before asking, “Temple Master Wen, are you not happy?”
Wen Zi Shan frowned slightly and replied with a strange expression, “I’m quite happy.”
“In that case, do you not like her?” Yang Kai pressed further.
Wen Zi Shan shook his head, “We’ve been together for so many years. How can I not like her?”
“If you are happy and you like her, then why do you look so sad and uneasy, Temple Master?”
“Haih.” He sighed, his aged face flushing slightly, “I raised her after all. I have no idea if doing this is a good thing or a bad thing for her.”
Yang Kai laughed, “I went to Purple Bamboo Peak just now.”
Wen Zi Shan looked over nervously, “How is the situation over there?”
Yang Kai scratched his nose, “I didn’t get to meet Senior Sister Gao. I was stopped by my wives, who claimed that the bride cannot meet any male guests before the wedding ceremony.”
“Hahaha!” Wen Zi Shan laughed heartily in response. He could almost imagine the scene at the time.
Yang Kai continued, “Although I didn’t get to meet Senior Sister Gao, I could sense that she was very happy and was looking forward to this very much. That’s why you shouldn’t look so down, Temple Master. She would be hurt if she knew.”
Wen Zi Shan grumbled, “But, I’m worried! Getting along is not the same as living well as husband and wife! What if she discovers that this Wen is not that great after all!? Will she hate me!?”
A sudden look of realization flashed across Yang Kai’s eyes, “I see. You’re actually worried about dragging her down for the rest of her life. It’s not about losing your freedom.” He chuckled, “You’ve known each other for so long and she knows better than anyone else just what is good about you and what is bad about you. If she were to dislike you, she would have disliked you a long time ago. Why would she be so happy today?”
“That is theoretically true…” Wen Zi Shan nodded but still looked unsure.
“Besides, the Star Boundary would no longer exist if Mo Sheng’s plans had been successful. You and I both would have lost our lives in battle. Danger always comes unexpectedly. The Star Boundary is at peace again for the moment, but who knows what the future will bring? Who can say that the Star Boundary won’t be ravaged again tomorrow? If that were to happen, you will have so many regrets because of all your unfinished business.”
Wen Zi Shan chuckled, “Are you saying we should enjoy life to the fullest?”
Yang Kai shrugged nonchalantly, “Why not?”
Wen Zi Shan let out a long sigh, “It’s enough as long as she doesn’t hate me.”
At this moment, Xia Sheng’s voice came from outside the door, “Temple Master, the auspicious hour has arrived. We have to go and pick up the bride now.”
“Good,” Wen Zi Shan replied.
Yang Kai reached over, picked up the bottle of wine on the table, and poured two glasses. He took one glass and handed the other to Wen Zi Shan, “Temple Master, I’m afraid I won’t be able to attend the banquet later. Allow me to present to you my well wishes now. I hope that you will have a loving and harmonious life together.”
His current status made things a bit difficult after all. Yang Kai wanted very much to join in the festivities, but the joyous celebration would become very reserved and formal if he really were to attend in person. Therefore, he might as well not attend. He had already delivered the wedding gifts to Gao Xue Ting and met with Wen Zi Shan. That was enough.
Wen Zi Shan drained the glass in one gulp and slammed the cup down on the table heavily before firmly declaring, “I’m going!”
Turning around, he marched off resolutely, as if even a thousand soldiers could not block his way!
The welcoming procession to pick the bride up was very lively and large and headed towards Purple Bamboo Peak with great fanfare.
Meanwhile, Yang Kai flew up into the sky. Duan Hong Chen, Zhan Wu Hen, Mo Huang, and Hua Ling Long hid and watched the procession below. Yang Kai glanced around and asked, “Where are the others?”
“They’re recuperating,” Duan Hong Chen replied.
Although the Star Boundary ultimately won in the war against Great Demon God, almost all of its most powerful Masters had suffered severe injuries. What’s more, they had been busy stabilising the situation in the Star Boundary after the war. Hence, it wasn’t until recently that they had the time to return to their respective residences to treat their wounds. They did not know how long would pass before they healed and could come out of retreat again.
Duan Hong Chen and the others were also injured and would probably enter retreat after the auspicious event today; thus, it was conceivable that the Star Boundary would be without any Great Emperors for the next few hundred to a thousand years.
Even though those Great Emperors did not come, their congratulatory gifts arrived without fail. Wen Zi Shan might not command such great respect, but Duan Hong Chen did. Gao Xue Ting was raised by Wen Zi Shan while Wen Zi Shan was raised by Duan Hong Chen. The relationship between them was akin to father and son.
Zhan Wu Hen said, “Yang Kai, I’m afraid the Star Boundary will be in your care after today.”
Among all the Great Emperors and those on the level of Great Emperors, only Yang Kai was in good shape. There was no helping it as he had refined the Immortal Tree. Even though he had also been severely injured in the battle against the Great Demon God, those injuries were nothing in the face of the healing abilities of the Immortal Tree’s essence; therefore, his injuries had healed completely over the past few months.
Nevertheless, Yang Kai could clearly perceive that he did not gain an immortal and indestructible body after refining the Immortal Tree. The legends surrounding the Immortal Tree were probably highly exaggerated. If his physical body had been smashed to pieces again, he had the feeling that he would have died for real. In other words, the essence of the Immortal Tree was limited. It was impossible to protect him infinitely.
“You may all rest easy.”
Duan Hong Chen sighed heavily as he gazed sadly at the welcoming processing heading towards the bride below.
Yang Kai was astonished, “What’s wrong, Senior Bustling World?”
Duan Hong Chen sorrowfully replied, “If I had known earlier, I would have taken in a little girl and raised her too.”
Yang Kai was instantly rendered speechless.
It was extremely festive on Purple Bamboo Peak. The welcoming procession surmounted all the obstacles in their way and finally welcomed the bride after much effort. After ushering the bride into the bridal sedan, they headed back towards the Main Hall of Azure Sun Temple with even greater fanfare.
Upon seeing that, Duan Hong Chen tidied his clothes and said, “This Old Master is off.”
Wen Zi Shan was getting married today, so it was only natural for him to pay his respects to his parent figure, Duan Hong Chen. For that reason, Duan Hong Chen had specially dressed up for the occasion. Compared to his usual sloppy attire, he looked like a different person altogether. After saying that, he transformed into a rainbow and quickly flew downward.
Zhan Wu Hen said, “Yang Kai, the rest of us will be heading back first. We will be leaving the Star Boundary in your hands. Don’t hesitate to come to us if you need our help.”
Yang Kai cupped his fists and replied solemnly, “Until we meet again.”
Following that, the other Great Emperors vanished out of sight with a flurry of bodies.
On the other hand, several figures were rushing over from below. Yang Kai looked at them and immediately broke into a smile. They were none other than his lovely wives. Yu Ru Meng was in the lead, followed by Zhu Qing, Su Yan, and the others. All of them were here today and exchanged a glance without speaking before looking down together.
At this moment, the welcoming procession had just ushered the bride into the Main Hall and Li Wu Yi’s voice rang out. The Master of Ceremonies for today’s wedding was none other than the strongest Master beneath the Great Emperors! He was also dressed in bright red and looked very festive.
First bow to the Heavens; second bow to the Parents; third bow to each other. After tying the knot, they entered the bridal chambers!
When the ceremony ended, the entire Azure Sun Temple seemed to boil with excitement. The banquet began and many guests began toasting to each other while exchanging pleasantries.
Yang Kai suddenly heard somebody crying next to him. He turned and looked sideways only to see Shan Qing Luo sobbing softly with reddened eyes. Moreover, she was looking at him while crying. There was a different kind of emotion in the beautiful and clear eyes of the Beguiling Demon Queen today.
Needless to say, Yang Kai was shocked, and just as he was about to question Shan Qing Luo, he realised that all the women around him were looking at him in the same manner as her. Even Xia Ning Chang pursed her lips lightly with an expectant look. He immediately understood what was going on. Stretching his arms out to them, he pulled them into his embrace, “Why don’t we get married too?”
The moment the words left his mouth, a yearning look appeared in the women’s eyes. They had been living together all this while without feeling the need for a marriage ceremony; however, they couldn’t help yearning for it when they saw somebody else performing the actual ceremony.
Despite longing for a marriage ceremony herself, Yu Ru Meng snorted at his words and declared, “Impossible.”
Yang Kai was taken aback, “Ru Meng, don’t you want to marry me!?”
She looked at him coldly, “Of course we sisters are willing to marry you, but have you thought about what would happen to the others?”
“Others? What others?” He was puzzled.
Su Yan quietly said, “Senior Sister Ji Yao…”
Yang Kai immediately flushed red.
Shan Qing Luo glanced sideways and added, “That little girl Mo Xiao Qi.”
He coughed lightly.
“Sister Ruo Xi…”
Yang Kai scratched his head in embarrassment.
Yu Ru Meng poked him in the chest with a slender jade finger, “Yang Kai, aren’t you quite impressive!?”
He stepped back repeatedly as she poked him over and over again. Then, he gave a dry laugh, “It’s one thing to mention Ji Yao, but there’s nothing going on between me and Xiao Qi or Ruo Xi.”
“Fine, then we’ll only talk about Ji Yao.” She sneered softly, “If you married only us, won’t Ji Yao be heartbroken? Do you have the confidence to convince her to join us?”
Yang Kai considered the question seriously and found that he was not sure if he could. His relationship with Ji Yao had always been rather secretive and discreet. What’s more, Ji Yao had never asked him for anything before.
Su Yan said, “We’ll wait until you manage to persuade Senior Sister Ji Yao, husband. We can hold a wedding after that.”
“You might have to wait for a very long time.”
To which she smiled, “It has been so many years already. It doesn’t make a difference anymore.”
Yang Kai sighed, “My life is complete with all of you.”
His words that came from the heart could melt even the hardest ice in the world, and all the women’s expressions became tender and loving.
However, Yu Ru Meng was resentful and snorted, “Have some respect for yourselves! At least stand your ground a little! Don’t be swayed by his words… Ugh… You bastard!”
FBI, we good now?
Inside one of the rooms on High Heaven Peak in High Heaven Palace sprawled several bodies on a large bed. Yang Kai extracted himself from the tangle of limbs with some difficulty. Putting on some clothes, he walked over to the window and opened it so that fresh air blew across his face. It had rained last night, so High Heaven Peak was shrouded in fog, making it hard to make out the buildings in the distance.
The sound of footsteps came from behind him; then, a warm and tender body pressed against him. Su Yan wrapped her arms around his waist and asked softly, “How long will you be in retreat this time?”
“It shouldn’t take long, but I’m afraid I’ll have to leave the day I exit.”
Her body trembled slightly at his words.
“Don’t worry. I’ll definitely come back.” He turned around and pulled her into his arms.
“Mmm… We will be waiting.” She nodded.
“I really don’t want to go…” He kissed her on the forehead. They had many partings throughout their lifetime, but few reunions in comparison. He originally thought that they could finally settle down together without needing to run around again, but who would have thought that the situation would repeat itself once more? Unfortunately, he had no choice but to do so for the Star Boundary’s sake.
After returning to High Heaven Palace from Azure Sun Temple, he had asked Zhang Ruo Xi about the World Tree; however, Zhang Ruo Xi had never heard of it before. Although she inherited a lot of her ancestor’s memories, they were merely an inheritance and the memories were not comprehensive. Heavens Order might have known about the World Tree, but the memories Zhang Ruo Xi received were fragmented. She did not know anything about the World Tree. Even so, she managed to point him in a direction despite not knowing anything.
There were enormous great forces in the Outer Universe that controlled places known as Star Cities. As long as one had enough resources, one could buy anything in such a place. It might be possible to buy information regarding the World Tree in a Star City.
At this moment, the Star Boundary was nearly broken beyond repair. Although they relocated countless living creatures out from the Lower Star Fields to restore the vitality and nurture the Auspicious Spirit Essence of the Star Boundary, nobody could say for sure whether this method would be effective. Even if it was effective, it might take tens of thousands of years to produce results.
The Giant Spirit God Ah Da was eyeing the Star Boundary hungrily and could turn it into his meal at any time. Yang Kai did not dare to guarantee that the giant would be absolutely obedient, that was why he had to think of another method to restore the Star Boundary’s vitality as soon as possible in addition to allowing it to simply self-repair.
The World Tree was the only clue he currently had. Aside from that, he himself also wanted to break free from the shackles of this Universe World and have a look at the outside world. An injured Great Demon God had all but annihilated the entire Star Boundary, so how would the Star Boundary resist if another powerful figure like Great Demon God appeared again? The only way was to become stronger; otherwise, was he supposed to hope that those powerful existences would never come to the Star Boundary? That was unrealistic.
There was an even higher Martial Dao and an even stronger power in the Outer Universe. Regardless of whether it was by his own will or being forced by the circumstances, it was a given to leave the Star Boundary and head towards a wider world.
Since he had made up his mind, then there was no need for hesitation. In any case, he still had to do the things that needed to be done; therefore, his top priority was to enter retreat to digest the benefits he gained during the last battle. Yang Kai’s current cultivation had reached the limits of the Emperor Realm. In addition, he received the support of a Universe World like the Star Boundary and became a Great Emperor. It was just that the truth was just as the Great Demon God had mentioned. ‘Great Emperor’ was not the highest cultivation Realm. The Realm above the Emperor Realm was the Open Heaven Realm.
Breaking free of the shackles of the Inner Universe, splitting Heaven and Earth apart and transforming one’s own body into an independent world… That was what was required to reach the Open Heaven Realm. Even without carrying a world, those in the Open Heaven Realm could exert far greater power than a Great Emperor. That power belonged to themselves and was not something they needed to borrow from an outside world.
Yang Kai had experienced the feeling of splitting Heaven and Earth apart before. When he consumed the World Source Liquid, there was a sense of chaos spreading out as the world was born. That sort of experience was extremely rare. Unless one had the chance to experience the initial birth of a world, it was impossible for a person to directly sense that feeling for themselves.
The Outer Universe was vast indeed. Even so, the birth of a new world was extremely demanding. World Source Liquid would only appear when a world was first created, not to mention that World Source Liquid that was initially created would gradually disappear as the world matured and aged. The only reason the Star Boundary’s World Source Liquid was preserved was all thanks to the Source Sealed World known as the Profound Heavens Temple. If not for this Sealed World preserving the most primitive environment of the world, the World Source Liquid would have ceased to exist.
Nevertheless, experiencing the feeling of Heaven and Earth splitting apart was pointless to Yang Kai at the moment. That experience would only benefit him greatly when he attempted to advance to the Open Heaven Realm. For now, he did not know how far he was from advancing into a higher Realm.
According to Zhang Ruo Xi, it was necessary to gather the power of Yin, Yang and Five Elements to become an Open Heaven Realm Master. That was because all the worlds were derived from Yin, Yang and the Five Elements. Only by gathering more of this power could one hope to split Heaven and Earth apart within one’s own body and completely break free from the shackles of the Inner Universe.
Having reached the limits of the Emperor Realm, reaching the Open Heaven Realm was a long process of accumulation. There were no exceptions to this process. Moreover, the more solid and vigorous the process of accumulation, the greater the strength one could wield upon becoming an Open Heaven Realm Master; therefore, there were times when the gap in strength between Open Heaven Realm Masters was extreme. One move might be enough to distinguish who was stronger in a fight between two Open Heaven Realm Masters in the Outer Universe. It was not an uncommon sight.
The gathering and accumulation of Yin, Yang, and Five Elements took one’s Dao Seal as a foundation. The Dao Seal’s existence was the greatest symbol that distinguished an ordinary Emperor Realm Master from an Emperor Realm Master with the hope of breaking through to become an Open Heaven Realm Master.
The only people that had Dao Seals in the Star Boundary were the Great Emperors. The others, including Li Wu Yi, did not have a Dao Seal that belonged to them. Only by obtaining a Dao Seal would one obtain the qualification to comprehend the Grand Dao and the right to glimpse into the secrets of the Open Heaven Realm.
The Dao Seal was formed from the essence of a person’s cultivation throughout their lifetime; therefore, Yang Kai looked no different from a normal person unless he used his power. In addition, while the Demon Qi in his body would churn violently whenever he activated his power in the past, there were no signs of that anymore. All the Demon Qi in his body and even his Divine Sense were condensed into his Dao Seal, transforming into the purest form of power.
The foundation for the gathering of the Power of Yin, Yang and the Five Elements was the Dao Seal. At first, Yang Kai could not understand this statement, but a single sentence from Zhang Ruo Xi immediately enlightened him.
Leaving aside the other powers in the Five Elements, he at least had already condensed the Wood Element from the Immortal Tree!
Across the 3,000 Worlds, the Immortal Tree was considered a peak Supreme Treasure. Even the Great Demon God had nearly gone insane with jealousy upon learning that Yang Kai had refined the Immortal Tree during the final battle. It could be seen just how valuable the Immortal Tree was. According to Zhang Ruo Xi, the Immortal Tree was one of the best choices to condense the Wood Element throughout the entire 3,000 Worlds. There were practically no better choices.
Seeing as Yang Kai had already thoroughly absorbed the Immortal Tree, he could omit the refining process altogether. When he learned about this, he couldn’t help feeling ecstatic. He had been forced to refine the Immortal Tree as at the time, his physical body had been completely destroyed by Great Demon God. He had no other options and could only try whatever means he could think of. In the end, he inadvertently succeeded in refining the Immortal Tree. Who could have known that it would also bring him these kinds of benefits?
There were two reasons behind his going into retreat this time. The first reason was to digest the various gains he received during the previous battle. The second reason was to condense the Wood Element into his Dao Seal.
He had experience in refining the Five Elements as he once cultivated a Secret Technique known as the Five Elements Indestructible Sword Tempering Art during the time he lived on Shadowed Star in Heng Luo Star Field. That Secret Technique had also required refining the power of the Five Elements. At the time, he also had a small baby fist-sized piece of Sun’s True Essence. It was just that most of it had been consumed to cultivate the Five Elements Indestructible Sword Tempering Art.
The power of the Five Elements Indestructible Sword Tempering Art was certainly impressive. As long as there were enough materials to refine, it would improve one’s control over the Five Elements. Hence, the power of this Secret Technique was almost infinite. It was just that Yang Kai later came to the Star Boundary, learned about a higher Martial Dao, and gradually abandoned the Five Elements Indestructible Sword Tempering Art. Now, it would seem that it was the wrong decision to make.
If he had accumulated enough power of the Five Elements back then, it might have been easier for him to advance into the Open Heaven Realm now. But, thinking about it in another way, all of his strength had been smelted into the Dao Seal when he condensed his Dao Seal, so no matter how much he had accumulated previously, it would not have made a difference.
It was all thanks to Zhang Ruo Xi; otherwise, Yang Kai would still be clueless about his future. At least he now had a clear direction.
There was no specific choice regarding which of the powers of Yin, Yang, or Five Elements to start with, but once one was chosen, a specific order needed to be followed afterwards. For example, now that Yang Kai had chosen to start the Wood Element, he would need to refine the Fire Element next. That was because the Five Elements mutually supported and restrained each other. Only wood could ignite fire.
In any case, that was something to be considered in the future as Yang Kai did not have any other materials on hand to refine the Five Elements. Seeing as he knew the secrets to the Open Heaven Realm, he could choose the best possible route to advancement in order to become the strongest Open Heaven Realm Master.
The door closed with a loud rumble and the lock clicked into place. Numerous seals were activated all at once as Yang Kai walked into the secret room and isolated himself from the outside world. He was going into retreat from today onward. For the next few decades or even the next few centuries, this would be his place of retreat.
He had made arrangements for all the affairs in the outside world as all the Great Emperors along with the two Elders of the Dragon Clan were also in retreat. Even Xiao Xiao was in the process of recuperating from his wounds. Even so, it was not as though no other powerful figures were remaining behind in the Star Boundary.
Zhang Ruo Xi was in a state of half-retreat and could take action at any time.
In the meantime, Yu Ru Meng guarded the Star Boundary. With her around, there would be no problems so long as no other Masters on the level of Great Demon God came to the Star Boundary. The task of appeasing Ah Da had also been handed over to her.
Before Duan Hong Chen went into retreat, he deliberately left many Dead Stars that had been refined into chess pieces to Yang Kai. Yang Kai then transferred them over to Yu Ru Meng and instructed her to feed Ah Da every so often. He was worried that the giant might get too hungry and forget the promise between them.
After the Heaven-destroying and Earth-shattering war, the entire Star Boundary fell silent. Many of the Masters were pursuing their own path to becoming stronger while countless other living creatures in the Star Boundary settled down with their lives.
Just like that, fifty years passed in the blink of an eye.
Inside his cultivation room, Yang Kai slowly awoke from his meditation. His eyes were shining brightly as several dozen years’ worth of dry and boring cultivation had passed as though it was only a single day. He did not change much during this time, both in terms of appearance or temperament. He was no different from fifty years ago; however, the power contained in his body had undergone earth-shaking changes.
The essence of the Immortal Tree had all been condensed into his Dao Seal and when he looked inside at himself, his Dao Seal was now covered in a layer of green light and was overflowing with vitality and energy. The Wood Element was so dense, strong, and pure that it was an extremely rare sight in the world. Even if he had never met anybody else who refined the Wood Element, Yang Kai knew that his current situation was not something other people could possibly compare with.
Zhang Ruo Xi was right, the Immortal Tree was certainly among the best choices for refining the power of Wood. It was impossible for a better choice than this to exist across the 3,000 Worlds.
This time around, the condensation process left him with the illusion that he managed to achieve his goal in the shortest time possible. Unfortunately, there were some disadvantages to this as well.
Yang Kai had already noticed previously that the power of the Immortal Tree was not infinite and could not actually make him immortal and indestructible. Refining the Immortal Tree would allow him to be reborn after having his body shattered into pieces completely a few times at most before its power was exhausted. Even so, these opportunities should not be underestimated. Even in the world of the Outer Universe, precious treasures that could bring people back from the brink of death were extremely rare. They practically only existed in legends, which only served to highlight just how powerful the Immortal Tree was.
Unfortunately, even the opportunity to be reborn after having his body shattered into pieces completely no longer existed anymore. That was because all the essence of the Immortal Tree had been refined into his Dao Seal. It was no longer contained within his flesh and bones. In other words, he would die if he was smashed to bits again by a Master on the same level as the Great Demon God before.
Therefore, the change brought both disadvantages and advantages.
At the very least, Yang Kai did not have to worry about being seen through at a glance. He immediately recovered after having his head bashed in by the Great Demon God previously, and just from that, the Great Demon God could tell with a single glance that he had refined the Immortal Tree. As a result, the Great Demon God had continuously torn off chunks of his flesh and consumed it during the battle in an effort to prevent his own injuries from worsening.
In the future, Yang Kai would not expose himself anymore if he were injured. It would also save him from the fate of having people covet his treasures. He might be practically invincible in the Star Boundary as Void Great Emperor, but there were Open Heaven Realm Masters in the Outer Universe. It was only natural that he understood the meaning behind the saying ‘an ordinary man might be innocent, but the treasures he carried made him guilty’. If he accidentally exposed the fact that he had refined the Immortal Tree, he might end up being treated as a Human shaped treasure to be refined.
Although he lost the opportunity to be reborn after having his body shattered into pieces completely upon condensing the essence of the Immortal Tree into his Dao Seal, his restorative abilities had been greatly enhanced instead. Combined with the restorative abilities of his Dragon Body, ordinary injuries would not bother him anymore.
His current cultivation Realm was a little awkward. It could be considered to be above the Emperor Realm but not yet in the Open Heaven Realm. He was only on the path to advancing into the Open Heaven Realm and did not know how to define a cultivator at this level. Zhang Ruo Xi had not mentioned anything either, so it might be that there was no fixed definition for this stage in the Outer Universe.
Be that as it may, Zhang Ruo Xi once mentioned that anybody who had gathered any five out of the seven Yin, Yang, and Five Elements could be considered a Half-Step Open Heaven Realm Master. They had to refine two more Elements to split Heaven and Earth apart, but nevertheless, the power that they could exert was by no means comparable to somebody like Yang Kai who had only refined a single Element.
In any case, calling it a Realm was simply just a title. The true foundation of a cultivator lay in how much power they could actually bring out.
Looking back at it now, Flowing Time Great Emperor had most likely glimpsed the path to advancing into the Open Heaven Realm. Perhaps, he might even have already refined one or two Elements in his body. How else could he have entered the Demon Realm alone? How else could he have fought the injured Great Demon God to the death?
Even Wu Kuang would be slightly inferior at his peak. He might have vaguely felt the fetters of the Open Heaven Realm, but he had failed to actually step onto that path. It wasn’t to say that he was inferior to Flowing Time Great Emperor; it might be due to opportunity or some other reason, but Wu Kuang had yet to achieve what Flowing Time had already managed to.
Still, Yang Kai only recalled a thing or two about the past of his Seniors. There was no need to delve so far into it as focusing on himself was more important.
He gave a wave of his hand and the heavy gates opened with a loud rumble. Bright light shone into this secret room that had been shrouded in darkness for several dozen years as he stepped outside.
Sweeping his Divine Senses out, everything in the Star Boundary imprinted itself in his heart, causing him to frown slightly. He initially thought that some changes would have occurred in the Star Boundary after fifty years. So many living creatures had been transferred out of the Lower Star Fields when the war ended after all. Not to mention, various Masters in the Star Boundary even went so far as to join hands to create a suitable living environment for these people.
To his disappointment, however, it would seem that the Star Boundary was not showing any signs of improvement. Rather, it even seemed to be in slightly worse condition than before he entered retreat.
The huge cracks in the sky looked like beasts with their mouths opened wide, just waiting to devour somebody of their choice. Terrifyingly powerful turbulence would also leak out from those cracks from time to time, causing massive damage to the surrounding environment in the Star Boundary. Although the World’s vitality remained, it was not strong. The Star Boundary was still dying, little by little.
Yang Kai let out a soft sigh. His resolve solidified and he became even more determined to leave. Only death would await them here if he did not go out in search of a solution to this predicament.
A figure flashed by at that moment and Yu Ru Meng suddenly appeared in front of him, calling out gently, “Husband!”
Yang Kai smiled, reached out, and pulled her into his arms to hold her gently. He took in the sweet scent lingering in her hair, feeling his depressed feelings dissipating away, leaving behind a warm sense of peace. Likewise, she did not say anything, she simply leaned against him quietly and enjoyed the moment of tenderness.
“Where are the others?” He asked.
“All of them are in retreat.”
“You’ve worked hard.” Everybody else could enter retreat, except Yu Ru Meng. She was the only one who could not seclude herself because she was the only top Master left in the Star Boundary who was uninjured; thus, it was necessary for her to remain alert to the invasion of foreign enemies and monitor the changes in the Star Boundary at all times.
“Are you leaving now?” Her voice shook slightly.
Yang Kai nodded silently in response. He had informed his wives of his decision prior to entering retreat, so she was not surprised.
“Please take care of yourself out there, husband. Perhaps, we sisters will also head out to the Outer Universe to find you in the near future. If you wish to keep a secret mistress on the side, you had better hide your tracks well, otherwise, this Queen will deep-fry all those lovely young ladies if I find out about them!”
Yang Kai reached out and pinched her cheeks, “With you all beside me, how could I be tempted by those ordinary women outside?”
“You never know.” She pouted and wrapped her arms around his waist. Tightening her embrace, she reluctantly said, “Aren’t you going to say goodbye to them?”
Yang Kai just shook his head and declared, “I’ll be back.”
Every time they parted was an extremely sad and painful occasion, and Yang Kai was afraid that he would be reluctant to leave if he saw them.
“You are so cruel!” Yu Ru Meng lifted a finger and poked him in the chest. A short while later, she floated backwards and smilingly said, “Go. Don’t look back. I will cry if you look back.”
Yang Kai scratched his nose and quickly said, “Take care of yourself. Wait for me to come back.”
After saying that, he turned and strode into the sky. It only took a few steps before he became a small black spot in the distance.
In the next instant, a pair of eyes opened at each place where the Great Emperors were currently in retreat all over the Star Boundary. They looked up in the direction of the sky and cupped their fists in unison.
Yang Xiao was lying around in boredom on the steps in front of the Flowing Time Temple, basking in the sun in High Heaven Palace when he suddenly saw something. Sitting up straight, he rubbed his eyes vigorously and immediately became overjoyed. He was just about to fly out when a voice came out of nowhere at that moment, “Freeze!”
His body instantly froze in place. Turning his head with great difficulty, he saw Yang Xue standing not far behind him. Yang Xue had formed a seal with her hands and a mysterious force was emanating from her body.
“Little Aunt, why are you trapping me?” He blinked with an innocent expression on his face.
In response, Yang Xue smiled sweetly and asked, “Where were you planning to go?”
“I was bored, so I thought I’d go out for a walk,” he replied without even needing to think about his answer.
“Is that so?” She raised her head and looked into the sky. A look of understanding flashed in her eyes, “Why do I feel like you were going to chase after my Big Brother instead?”
“Adoptive Father?” He looked left and right before asking with a blank expression, “Where is Adoptive Father? Isn’t he in retreat? Could it be that he came out of seclusion?”
“Enough nonsense!” She coldly snorted, “You’ve kept coming here to laze about over the past ten or so years. I knew you were up to something! So this is what you were planning? I advise you to give up on this as soon as possible.”
Yang Xiao acted even more innocent than before, “Little Aunt, why can’t I understand what you are saying?”
She smiled, “Do you really not understand? It looks like I’ve been too indulgent towards you. Maybe you’ll understand if somebody else talks to you instead.”
Liu Yan suddenly appeared from behind her. The crystal-like little girl had a head of fiery-red hair and a cluster of flames burned at her fingertips, turning into a small Phoenix from time to time.
Yang Xiao turned pale at the sight of the little girl, and when he saw Liu Yan walking towards him, he swallowed nervously, “Great Aunt, let’s talk this out, okay? Violence is never the answer…”
“Were you trying to go after Master?” Liu Yan walked up to Yang Xiao and looked at him with big clear eyes.
“No…” The small phoenix immediately flew in front of him, giving out a scorching aura that could even burn a person’s Soul, so he hurriedly changed what he was saying, “Yes, yes, yes! I was going to go after Adoptive Father! I wanted to see what the Outer Universe is like! What’s wrong with that!? Why do you have to do this to me!?”
“I want to go too,” Liu Yan declared.
Yang Xiao immediately changed face, as though he had found an accomplice as even his eyes began to shine, “Great Aunt, in that case, we might as well go together! Adoptive Father just left, so he should not have gone very far. We can still catch up to him.”
“We can’t go!” She shook her head. Her movements slow and deliberate.
“Why!?” He glared at her.
“We will only hold him back!”
Yang Xiao sneered, “Great Aunt, you are overthinking this. You and I are not weak, so why would we drag Adoptive Father down? I will just tag along with him without asking for anything. I can at least serve him tea and run some errands for him, right? Hah… Adoptive Father must be having a hard time. He is going on a trip all by himself without a single person to talk to relieve his boredom. It’s one thing if I didn’t know about it, but now that I do, how can I turn a blind eye to his circumstances as his Adoptive Son!? I’m going to follow him. I’m going to support him!”
He spoke with great conviction and righteousness, indicating his sincerity and filial piety that overflowed beyond words.
Qiong Qi walked out from behind and sighed, “Young Master, stop talking nonsense. The Outer Universe is far too dangerous. It’s not too late to start making plans when your cultivation reaches this Old Master’s level.”
Yang Xiao’s face turned ashen, “Only the Heavens know when that will be…”
The more he cultivated, the more he understood the difficulty of increasing his strength. It was impossible to reach the level of Flowing Time Great Emperor without thousands of years of accumulated effort. With his playful, active, and impatient nature, how could Yang Xiao possibly wait that long?
“I can’t be bothered to waste time speaking nonsense with you!” Yang Xue coldly snorted. Reaching out a slender jade white hand, she pulled Yang Xiao by the ear. Yang Xiao was immediately in pain, begging for mercy as he was dragged into the Flowing Time Temple by the ear. Then, the main doors slammed shut and various barriers were activated. Nobody knew when those doors would open once more.
…..
“Sir!” Out in the void, Zhang Ruo Xi smiled beautifully. She looked exactly the same as when they last met. The passage of time had not left its mark on her.
“How is your family?” Yang Kai asked.
“Thanks to Sir, they are all doing well,” she replied.
When she first walked out of the Blood Gate, she immediately threw herself into the battle against the Great Demon God. After that, she followed Yang Kai around for some time to handle various matters in the Star Boundary. It wasn’t until fifty years ago when Yang Kai entered retreat that she had the time to reunite with her family again.
When the Zhang Family was living outside Maplewood City, it was not particularly powerful. The strongest Master in the family was only in the Third-Order Origin King Realm back then. There was nothing much they could do in the war between the two worlds with their strength; hence, Yang Kai placed them into the Sealed World Bead in the early stages of the war so that they were well taken care of.
At present, the Zhang Family had already set down roots in High Heaven Palace. As long as the descendants of the family were of suitable age, they would be accepted into High Heaven Palace as official disciples. Zhang Ruo Xi had been living with her family whilst recuperating from her wounds for the past fifty years.
Since the Blood Gate had opened, the Heavens Order Palace was now under the management of Luan Feng and the other Divine Venerables. Any living Monster with an Ancient Divine Spirit’s bloodline could enter the Blood Gate to pursue the glory of their ancestors in the Heavens Order Palace once they reached an appropriate Realm.
Zhang Ruo Xi had also finished dealing with all the matters at hand as she was going with Yang Kai on this trip to the Outer Universe. The others were either lacking in strength to follow or still recuperating and unable to leave.
“Good.” Yang Kai nodded before he instructed, “Go over to Ah Da first and wait for me there. I still have something to do. It will take several months at least and three to five years at most.”
“En,” She nodded before turning around and flying into the sky.
In the void, Yang Kai quickly determined his direction, transformed into a stream of light, and sped away. The void was lonely and his journey was long, but although he was all alone, he remained calm and composed. His journey was not boring at all.
It took him a month to arrive, and with his current strength, it was hard to tell just how far he was from the Star Boundary. Yang Kai glanced around and everywhere he looked he saw a vast and boundless expanse. Thus, he gently nodded in satisfaction.
[This place is good enough.]
Raising a hand, he summoned the Sealed World Bead. His thoughts flashed and the small bead changed instantly to become a huge creature that filled the void.
Yang Kai did not know if he would survive this trip to the Outer Universe. His future was unclear and it was most likely that he would face a lot of unimaginable dangers. On that note, there were trillions of Demons currently living in the third region of the Sealed World Bead. It was simply inappropriate to bring them along with him. If he ever found himself in a dangerous situation, then those trillions of Demons would be buried alongside him; therefore, he needed to separate the third region from the Small Sealed World before he left.
If it was in the past, he might not have had many clues about how to accomplish this; however, his strength had been greatly enhanced now. Combined with the experience of separating the second region previously, Yang Kai had some confidence to pull this off.
There used to be three regions within the Small Sealed World. The first region was the original space of the Small Sealed World. The second region was formed from devouring several Cultivation Stars from the Lower Star Fields in the past. The third region was created when he devoured the entire Demon Realm and could be considered the second Demon Realm.
Before the second battle between the two worlds broke out, Yang Kai had gone to the Lower Star Field and separated the second region from the Small Sealed World. It had taken him a lot of effort and energy to do so.
Now that he was merely repeating the process, Yang Kai believed that it would be easier. Contrary to his expectations, however, he realised that something was wrong once he got started. The area of the third region was simply too large. He had devoured the entire Demon Realm after all, so there was no saying how many times larger the third region was compared to the original region of the Small Sealed World. As a result, the distinction between the primary and secondary regions of the Small Sealed World became inverted. The third region was too large to remove.
Despite working hard for several days, Yang Kai’s efforts proved to be fruitless. He had already expected this situation to some extent though, it was just that he had not been too certain at the time. Seeing as his conjectures had been confirmed, he could only change his plans.
With a flash of Yang Kai’s mind, the Embodiment responded inside the Small Sealed World. The Demon Qi all over his body churned violently as he formed a set of hand seals, allowing his mind to permeate every corner of the third region.
The Sealed World Bead was Yang Kai’s artifact; meanwhile, the Embodiment was formed from a thread of Yang Kai’s Soul residing inside a Stone Spirit. Although the Embodiment now had a mind of his own, he could still be considered Yang Kai’s Soul Clone. If the main body could control the Small Sealed World, then it was only natural that the Soul Clone could as well.
The Embodiment wrapped his mind around the entire third region of the Small Sealed World, supporting Yang Kai who was using a certain Secret Technique outside. The whole world suddenly began to rumble.
Two figures took to the sky from within an enormous city located somewhere in the third region. It was Bei Li Mo and Chang Tian. Zhan Wu Hen previously decided to spare the lives of the remnants of the Demon Race army, but his condition was that the Demon Race never stepped foot into the Star Boundary again.
Yu Ru Meng had a special relationship with Yang Kai, so she was the exception to this rule and could remain in High Heaven Palace.
On the other hand, Bei Li Mo and Chang Tian had no choice but to stay inside the Small Sealed World. Over the past few decades, Bei Li Mo’s injuries had improved considerably even though she was not completely healed. In contrast, Chang Tian’s appearance became even older. He was showing faint signs of reaching the end of his life.
When they sensed the changes in the world, they couldn’t help flying out to investigate the phenomenon. Upon seeing the Embodiment, Bei Li Mo hurriedly asked, “Is it starting?”
Both she and Chang Tian were aware of Yang Kai’s plans, it was just that they did not expect that it would take him so long to begin.
The Embodiment glanced at her with his deep eyes and gently nodded.
“Is it going smoothly?” Chang Tian questioned, seemingly having noticed something was wrong from the Embodiment’s condition.
The Embodiment replied in a booming voice, “I will let you know if I need your help.”
“We are ready at any time!” Chang Tian cupped his fists and said nothing more. Afterwards, he and Bei Li Mo flew to the side to watch.
The rumbling sounds went on endlessly as the entire world seemed to be guided by some sort of invisible force. As a Demon Saint from the Demon Realm, Bei Li Mo was rather sensitive to the changes in the world, so a short while later, she suddenly turned her head in shock to look in a certain direction. She could sense that the world over there was separating.
If the world was a pancake, then that enormous force was separating this pancake into two pieces at this very moment. One piece was large and the other piece was small. The large piece was the territory of the Demon Realm while the small piece was the first region of the Small Sealed World.
Nobody knew how long the huge commotion lasted. The Embodiment’s strength was not that high as he was just a Half-Saint after all. Be that as it may, he could be considered the Master of the Small Sealed World seeing as he was Yang Kai’s Soul Clone; thus, he enjoyed a lot of advantages in the Small Sealed World. Furthermore, he also cultivated the Heaven Devouring Battle Law and since he did not own a body of flesh, he could rapidly replenish the energy he consumed at any time. In that way, he could persist no matter how long this process took.
It wasn’t until two months later that the loud rumblings gradually subsided.
The Embodiment staggered unsteadily, dropping out of the sky as though he was drunk. Although he was not gasping for breath, his eyes were filled with exhaustion. It was clear that this Secret Technique had put him under enormous pressure.
Out in the void, Yang Kai reached out a hand and summoned something. A simple and inconspicuous bead appeared in the palm of his hand. He toyed with it gently as he lifted his head to look at the huge Monster in the sky. A trace of exhaustion flitted through his eyes.
The first region and the third region had been completely separated from each other. He had not removed the third region from the Small Sealed World. Rather, he removed the original territory of the Small Sealed World.
There was a distinct difference between these two actions. If he had succeeded in the former, it would not have made much of a difference to the Small Sealed World. It would still have its special ability to devour and merge worlds. Unfortunately, his previous attempts had not gone as he wished. In the end, he had no choice but to choose the latter option instead. In this way, the Sealed World Bead had changed back to the original Sealed World Bead, losing its devouring abilities.
Gun-Gun was now the Demon Realm. Even the Embodiment had been restricted within. Gun-Gun was accidentally created when the Embodiment activated the Heaven Devouring Battle Law through the Sealed World Bead back then and did not have a consciousness, only the instinct to devour. If the Embodiment did not stay behind to control Gun-Gun, who knew where he would run off to? If he were to wander aimlessly in this vast universe, he might encounter a powerful Master. It was possible that he would cause others to covet him. At that time, not only would the Demon Realm’s future be at risk, even the lives of all the Demon Race living inside would be endangered.
With no other choice, Yang Kai could only leave the Embodiment here to guard the Demon Realm. Even though doing so would restrict the Embodiment’s movements, it also brought him great benefits. The current Embodiment was in control of the new Demon Realm, so even Bei Li Mo and Chang Tian could not go against his will.
This Demon Realm was newly born, equivalent to having just split Heaven and Earth apart once more. With the growth of this new world, the Embodiment might even walk the path that Wu Kuang wanted to take before by using another way to reach the Open Heaven Realm. Wu Kuang had used the Ancestral Domain as a core to devour countless Lower Star Fields just to get a glimpse of the secrets of the Open Heaven Realm.
The opportunity to grow alongside a world was extremely rare after all. What’s more, the Embodiment was proficient in the Heaven Devouring Battle Law.
Gun-Gun had the intuitive power to devour. That ability had not been impressive when he was transformed into the Sealed World Bead and kept in Yang Kai’s possession. Now that he was released to the outside, he incessantly devoured the power of the Starry Sky in this vast universe.
It was conceivable that the growth period of the newly-born Demon Realm would not be too long. It could even be said that if the newly-born Demon Realm continued to grow in this manner, it might even grow to become a more advanced world than the previous Demon Realm.
It was just that… Yang Kai had never seen such a round, big-bellied fish-like Universe World before.
[Did I accidentally create something monstrous?]
In the past, he had not known what the Star Boundary looked like. It wasn’t until he looked at it from afar that he discovered that it was not a sphere as he had imagined. Instead, it was a crescent-moon-shaped world. [Seeing as there is a crescent-moon-shaped world like the Star Boundary, then it shouldn’t be that incredible to have a big-bellied fish-like universe, right?]
In the void, the huge Giant Spirit God sat cross-legged like a mountain. He massaged his stomach with his big hands as he watched the small figure in front of him pointedly with two small sun-like eyes on his sad face, looking hungry and unsatisfied.
Goosebumps covered Zhang Ruo Xi. Although she knew that the Giant Spirit Gods were born kind and disliked conflict, she did not have much sense of security in facing such a powerful existence that could easily kill her on a whim.
She obeyed Yang Kai’s orders to wait here, and since then, half a year had passed, yet Yang Kai still had not shown up.
The Giant Spirit God had awakened from his deep sleep, seeming dreadfully hungry. She also knew that the Giant Spirit Gods would always look hungry except when they ate and slept. This was their nature and no one could change it.
But the invisible pressure of being stared at by a starving-looking giant who was constantly rubbing his stomach still made her feel uneasy.
From afar, a figure was seemingly approaching.
Elated, Zhang Ruo Xi focused her sight there, and a moment later, she exclaimed delightfully, “Sir is coming!”
She was addressing Ah Da, the Giant Spirit God, when she said this; however, Ah Da did not react to her words. He had no idea who this so-called Sir was, and continued to gape at her.
But soon, Ah Da suddenly looked excited and turned in the direction Zhang Ruo Xi was watching. He obviously felt something.
In the blink of an eye, Yang Kai appeared out of thin air not far from the Giant Spirit God. He glanced at Zhang Ruo Xi, nodded lightly, then turned to Ah Da with a smile, “Are you hungry?”
Ah Da nodded vigorously, “Hungry!”
Yang Kai continued, “Open your mouth!”
“Ah!” Ah Da did as he was told, opening his mouth widely. Several refined chess pieces were thrown into his mouth, only then did Ah Da close his mouth and start chewing.
Yang Kai shouted, “Ah Da, I’m going for a long trip, and I don’t know when I’ll be back.”
Ah Da was enjoying his food with his eyes half closed and answered Yang Kai inaudibly.
“We’re friends, aren’t we?” Yang Kai questioned again.
Ah Da did not respond. He swallowed and looked at Yang Kai eagerly, who asked again, “Are we friends!?”
“Friends, friends!” Ah Da nodded.
“Since I’m a friend, you have to take care of my home while I go out, but you can’t eat my home. I’ll be homeless if you eat it.”
Ah Da’s face scrunched up at his words as if he was in pain.
Yang Kai pressed on with a smile, “If you really want to eat, you have to wait until I come back. But you can’t eat when I’m not here.”
Ah Da nodded joyfully, “Ah Da won’t eat until you come back!”
Yang Kai said no more. He casually tossed a few more chess pieces, and the crunching noise sounded again.
Looking back at the half-moon-shaped world, Yang Kai took a deep breath, and beckoned Zhang Ruo Xi, “Let’s go.”
Although he was notably reluctant to leave and wanted to go back to take a look now, he suppressed his desire. If everything went well, he would naturally be home as soon as possible and would be able to save the Star Boundary. If it did not, it would not be too late to think of a solution by then. He always had a chance to see it again in the future.
Although Ah Da was eyeing the Star Boundary, he should not be in a hurry to make a move until it really died, and it would still take at least a thousand years for that to happen.
In such a long time, Yang Kai did not believe he could not find the World Tree.
Moreover, there was another advantage to having Ah Da here. At least, the power of the Giant Spirit God could deter others. Even if a Master inadvertently passed through here, he believed that they would not approach easily with Ah Da present. In other words, Yang Kai did not have to worry about the safety of Star Boundary.
And so, Zhang Ruo Xi and Yang Kai flew away side by side.
Ruo Xi was in a cheerful mood. Although she did not talk much along the way, a smile was hanging on her face the whole time. She recalled when she followed her Sir out of the Zhang Family manor outside Maplewood City, she was almost powerless to face the world and its various dangers. It was Sir who protected her at that time. How would she ever think that she could one day stand side by side with him and help him to solve his problems? Her greatest wish at that time was to somehow be able to help her Sir, and after several decades of retreat inside the Blood Gate, she finally achieved the qualifications to do so.
“Tell me about the Outer Universe.” Yang Kai suddenly asked. He had no idea what to expect from this trip to the Outer Universe; therefore, the more information he gathered, the better.
Zhang Ruo Xi turned solemn and answered, “The memories of my ancestor are incomplete, so what I know is not comprehensive.”
“It’s better than knowing nothing. Just tell me what you know,” Yang Kai smiled.
Then, Zhang Ruo Xi disclosed everything she knew without reservation.
The Star Boundary was an independent Universe World. The number of such Universe Worlds in the entire Outer Universe was unknown, but collectively these worlds were the so-called Inner Universes, while everything else composed the Outer Universe.
The Outer Universe was vast and boundless.
There were various great forces in the vast Outer Universe, each occupying either a large or small territory and always competing against each other. Generally, it was chaos, which was not much different from the original situation of the Star Boundary, just that those beings in the Outer Universe had mastered more potent powers. Those who could mingle in the Outer Universe were Masters who had condensed their own Dao Seal. In other words, they all basically had the capability of Great Emperors.
Yang Kai secretly mocked himself, [Am I not the weakest being in the Outer Universe then? If I really encounter an Open Heaven Realm Master, I’m afraid I would be powerless to fight back.]
Although Great Demon God was also an Open Heaven Realm Master at that time, he had just been reborn and the battlefield was the Star Boundary. With the support of the Star Boundary behind them, Yang Kai and the other Great Emperors were able to unleash far more strength than they could elsewhere.
But now, without the support of the Star Boundary, Yang Kai understood that it was impossible to resist an Open Heaven Realm Master with just his own strength. He was still able to recognize his limitations.
In the developed areas of the vast Outer Universe, the top treasure lands had been occupied by various powerful great forces. Accordingly, these treasure lands could be divided into the Seventy-Two Paradises and Thirty-Six Cave Heavens. These great forces that occupied these treasure lands were all extremely indomitable and possessed incredible numbers of Open Heaven Realm Masters.
“Seventy-Two Paradises and Thirty-Six Cave Heavens?” Yang Kai’s eyes lit up hearing it, feeling as if a new door was slowly opened in front of him.
Zhang Ruo Xi nodded, “All these treasure lands are famous and represent the peak power of the Outer Universe and it is best if one can join such a power. In the past, my ancestor seemed to have come from a place called Lang Ya Paradise.”
“Oh?” Yang Kai raised his eyebrows, “So, can you return to your origin if you want?”
Zhang Ruo Xi chuckled, “Ancestor is ancestor, and I am me. I’m not sure if they will recognize me since it’s already been hundreds of thousands of years. Furthermore, I have no idea where Lang Ya Paradise is now. Without a specific map, it will be difficult to find it, unless we have particularly good luck. As for returning to my origins, there is no need to think about it for the time being.” Her face flushed as she stopped and glanced at Yang Kai, “I still want to be with Sir.”
Yang Kai patted her little head, and returned a smile, “If you have a chance, and if the other party is willing to accept you and they are also good people, you should return to your origins. You also mentioned that it’s better to have the backing of a powerful force in the Outer Universe.”
Zhang Ruo Xi pouted, and immediately changed the topic, “But if Sir wants to condense the Metal Element of the Five Elements in the future, perhaps you can go to a place called Golden Antelope Paradise.”
“Why do you say so?” Yang Kai was puzzled.
Zhang Ruo Xi explained, “Sir knows he has to refine the powers of Yin, Yang, and the Five Elements in order to break through to the Open Heaven Realm. Sir chose to refine the Wood Element first, and Wood sustains Fire, so the next element Sir requires is the Fire Element. Fire refines Earth and Earth begets Metal, so after Earth Element would be Metal Element. Given that it’s Sir’s first time entering the Outer Universe, I’m afraid it won’t be easy for you to find a suitable Metal Element material, but the Golden Antelope Paradise has ready-made Golden Blade Yuan Spirits. As long as Sir can afford the price, Sir can enter a certain place to refine his Metal Element.”
Yang Kai was stunned listening to the information, “Does this Golden Antelope Paradise do business? Why do I feel like it’s making it convenient for us?”
Zhang Ruo Xi replied with a smile, “Most of the Seventy-Two Paradises and Thirty-Six Cave Heavens only allow their own people to go in and out of their territory, but Golden Antelope Paradise is an exception. You may think of it as them doing business. Moreover, the quality of Golden Blade Yuan Spirits in the Golden Antelope Paradise is not low. As long as one refines the appropriate power of Yin, Yang, and Five Elements to reach the Open Heaven Realm, the outcome would not be lower than the Fifth Order!”
Yang Kai nodded, “The Fifth Order is indeed not low.”
The Open Heaven Realm was not subdivided into First, Second, and Third Order like the Emperor Realm, but rather into a wider range with nine Orders in total. The First-Order was the lowest, while the Ninth-Order was the highest. The power of Yin, Yang, and Five Elements was also divided into nine Orders.
For example, the Immortal Tree that Yang Kai possessed before was a Ninth-Order Wood Element. Its value was high enough to make even the greatest Masters of the Outer Universe covet it.
According to Zhang Ruo Xi, the Golden Blade Yuan Spirits in the Golden Antelope Paradise were all Fifth-Order materials at least.
The materials selected to condense the power of Yin, Yang, and Five Elements were crucial to an Open Heaven Realm cultivator. When a cultivator broke through to the Open Heaven Realm, his Order would be determined according to the Yin, Yang, and Five Elements materials he or she had refined. It was possible to improve one’s Order after the initial breakthrough, but doing so had its own difficulties and restrictions.
Although Golden Antelope Paradise opened its gates wide to the public, it was not without cost to enter it. One could only enter if they could afford the price, and there was also a time limit. Once time was up, they would be thrown out regardless of whether they had succeeded or not.
From their Golden Blade Yuan Spirits alone, the Golden Antelope Paradise was filthy rich.
“The Golden Blade Yuan Spirits in Golden Antelope Paradise are Fifth-Order materials, but if you are lucky enough to find a Spirit Essence there, it will be a pleasant surprise.”
“Spirit Essence? What Order is this material?” Yang Kai did not bother to ask what the Spirit Essence was, because he could guess that the Spirit Essence must be the origin or core of a Golden Blade Yuan Spirit, which was absolutely much higher than the Fifth Order.
“Seventh-Order!”
Yang Kai could not help whistling. For now, he was not familiar with the ranking system of the material quality to condense the power of Yin, Yang and Five Elements. He also had no clue how high the Order should be to be considered as valuable in the eyes of those Masters in the Outer Universe, but it was undeniable that the Seventh Order was not low. It was definitely a decent material that was worth fighting for.
“Has anyone ever obtained one there?” Yang Kai asked.
Zhang Ruo Xi shook her head, “I have no idea. Maybe my ancestor would know, but I didn’t get any memories related to that.”
Yang Kai nodded gently and came up with another question, “What is the currency in the Outer Universe?”
In different planes and different worlds, the currency was different too. Demon Crystals were the currency in the Demon Realm, while Source Crystals were the currency in the Star Boundary. They were all resources naturally generated that contained the energy of that world, which could be absorbed by the cultivators to enhance their strength.
If he was right, the currency in the Outer Universe should be something that could enhance one’s strength too.
“Open Heaven Pills!”
Yang Kai frowned, “Open Heaven Pills? Why does it sound like a kind of Spirit Pill?”
Zhang Ruo Xi smiled lightly, “They are indeed a type of Spirit Pill, one that is extremely useful for Open Heaven Realm Masters. As I’ve told Sir before, upon reaching the Open Heaven Realm, one’s Order is set, but it’s not impossible to improve it. The resource used to break through higher Orders are Open Heaven Pills. If one consumes enough Open Heaven Pills over a long time, they can generally improve their Order one or two times, and their strength naturally increases.”
Yang Kai was baffled, “If Open Heaven Pills are useful to Open Heaven Realm Masters, are they useless to people like us?”
“Of course, they’re not useless.” Zhang Ruo Xi explained, “In Sir’s realm, Open Heaven Pills as a standard currency allow one to purchase and trade for materials they need.”
A sudden realization dawned on Yang Kai, “Materials to condense the power of Yin, Yang and Five Elements?”
“En!” Zhang Ruo Xi nodded, “These materials are what cultivators at our Realm need most; therefore, everyone will generally exchange for what they need if they have a chance.”
“It seems that if I have a chance in the future, I will have to get a pill recipe for these Open Heaven Pills.” Yang Kai was immersed in thoughts. He was familiar with Alchemy, so if he could obtain the pill recipe for Open Heaven Pills, he might be able to refine them for himself. Of course, that would require appropriate materials as well.
Zhang Ruo Xi beamed, “Sir, there are two kinds of Open Heaven Pills. One type is spontaneously generated, and the other is refined by Alchemists.”
Yang Kai was flabbergasted, “Since it is a Spirit Pill, how can it be generated by the Universe?”
Zhang Ruo Xi shook her head slowly, “The Universe has a will of its own and occasionally, an object called the Universe Furnace will appear. This furnace is not a physical object, but a projection that can absorb the power of the Stars and Universe itself to refine innate Open Heaven Pills.”
Yang Kai replied in amazement, “Such a wonder occurs?”
At that moment, he suddenly recalled a time when he was taught the Alchemic Dao directly by Heavenly Way. Since the Heavenly Way could pass on an Alchemy Technique to him, why could it not generate Spirit Pills by itself?
“Strictly speaking, it was all due to the Open Heaven Pills generated by the World that the Masters in Outer Universe gradually derived a pill recipe for refining artificial Open Heaven Pills.”
“There should be some differences between the two, right?”
“You are right, Sir. Although both are Open Heaven Pills, there are enormous differences between them, the biggest one being effectiveness. Although consuming the artificially refined Open Heaven Pills can improve one’s Order, it comes with a limit. After promoting one’s Order by two Orders, it is not possible to advance any further using this method. But the Open Heaven Pills generated by the Universe are different. They contain the purest power of the World, and rumour has it that this kind of Open Heaven Pill can raise the strength of an Open Heaven Realm Master without limits, making the Ninth-Order reachable!”
Yang Kai’s blood boiled with excitement as he heard this and he immediately began looking around.
Zhang Ruo Xi asked strangely, “Sir, what are you looking for?”
Yang Kai answered, “I’m looking for the Universe Furnace that you mentioned! Aren’t we going to be rich if we encounter it now?” Although he had condensed his Wood Element directly from the Immortal Tree and his starting point was incredibly high, he was afraid that it would be difficult to find materials of the same Order as the Immortal Tree. Even if there were such good things, he could not compete for them if he was not strong enough.
Therefore, Yang Kai had mentally well-prepared too. He would not reach the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm when he was first promoted to the Open Heaven Realm in the future, even getting to the Eighth-Order would be tough for him. It would be great if he got to the Seventh Order, but it was possible for him to just reach the Sixth Order or even the Fifth Order too.
If he wished to improve his own Order and strength then, these spontaneously generated Open Heaven Pills were necessary.
Zhang Ruo Xi giggled, “How can this kind of treasure be so easy to encounter? Even if the Universe Furnace is really born, it would have nothing to do with us. People from the Thirty-Six Cave Heavens and Seventy-Two Paradises would probably swarm over for it at once, resulting in a furious battle.”
Ignoring her, Yang Kai frowned, “I seem to see something.”
Zhang Ruo Xi pouted, “Sir likes to make jokes.”
Yang Kai shook her arm, and pointed in a certain direction, “There’s really something over there. Did I see it clearly…” Just when he finished, his face changed drastically, “So fast!”
Previously when he looked around, he vaguely saw something coming towards them, but in the blink of an eye, the other party had shortened half the distance between them. The whole process was extremely abrupt, with no trace of movement.
When those words fell, Zhang Ruo Xi also saw the situation and her pretty face immediately paled, “Myriad Facets Insect!”
Yang Kai did not have time to ask what the Myriad Facets Insect was, but seeing Zhang Ruo Xi’s expression, he understood that this insect was not simple. From its look, it was a huge snow-white bug with holes all over its body. The bug’s body stretched over ten kilometres in length and it looked considerably swollen, but it was strangely fast as well.
Just as Zhang Ruo Xi’s voice fell, the Myriad Facets Insect had broken through more than ten thousand kilometres, and immediately arrived in front of the two. Its mouth was so huge and deep that it resembled a black hole, which enveloped the two people from above, swallowing a big piece of the void.
“Run!” Yang Kai grabbed Zhang Ruo Xi’s arm and Space Principles flared as he attempted to flee.
But Yang Kai was startled to find that the local space was completely locked, and they were immediately shrouded in darkness, all light in front of him suddenly lost.
The next moment, the world spun and even Yang Kai, who had now won the throne of a Great Emperor, was left feeling dizzy, as if he was plummeting endlessly.
He was speechless. He had just come out of the Star Boundary with Zhang Ruo Xi, so how could he just run into such a monster? He did not understand the danger of the Outer Universe until now.
Yang Kai’s heart skipped a beat when he thought of Zhang Ruo Xi, because his hands were empty. He was still grabbing Zhang Ruo Xi’s arm just a moment ago, but now, he was holding nothing.
[Where’s Ruo Xi!?] While enduring the discomfort in his head, Yang Kai hurriedly released his Divine Sense to examine his surroundings, but he found no trace of Zhang Ruo Xi anywhere. He forced himself to calm down and recalled what just happened. Instinctively, Yang Kai felt that he should have been swallowed by the Myriad Facets Insect, so both Ruo Xi and he should be in the Myriad Facets Insect’s stomach right now.
He was so infuriated. He came out of the Star Boundary full of hopes and ambitions, but how could have anticipated being swallowed by a bug before he could achieve anything? How could he bear this shame?
With a low roar, he used his Dragon Transformation Secret Technique, turning into a 2,000 meters tall Half-Dragon in an instant. The Azure Dragon Spear was summoned to his hand as his aura soared. Inside his body, his Dao Seal radiated brightly, and all his power was gathered in the Azure Dragon Spear before he thrust out wildly.
In the next moment, the world stopped spinning. His vision blurred and he suddenly appeared in the void. He was still in his previous stance in the momentum of stabbing.
Yang Kai felt extremely annoyed. He unleashed his strength but ended up stabbing nothing but empty space. When his power was exhausted and he finally came to a halt, he looked around at a loss.
[Where is this?]
Although he had just entered the Outer Universe and did not know much about it, Yang Kai was sure that he was no longer where he originally was. Everything around him looked completely different from before.
He did not see Zhang Ruo Xi or the Myriad Facets Insect, as if everything that happened just now was an illusion.
Yang Kai hefted his spear and looked around on alert, but it was quiet all around him, with nobody present except himself.
[What the Hell just happened? I have never been so confused like this.]
After confirming that there was no danger around, Yang Kai quickly dispelled his Dragon Transformation, took out a Space Spirit Bead, and tried to contact Zhang Ruo Xi, but he received no response.
Yang Kai grew anxious.
[I’m fine with encountering such weird things inexplicably, at least I’m unharmed, but where did that little girl Ruo Xi go?] He tried to recall carefully and remembered the moment when he attempted to get out of trouble, there seemed to be a subtle Space Principle fluctuation.
In addition to the strange environment in front of him, Yang Kai vaguely felt that he experienced some kind of exceptionally long-distance teleportation. He had no idea how far he was from the Star Boundary, and he was afraid that he could not even figure out where the Star Boundary was now.
Last time when he escaped from Demon Realm, he used the blessing of the World’s Will inside him to locate the Star Boundary in the vast Outer Universe, allowing him to successfully return home.
But at that time, it was because Demon Realm was not too far from the Star Boundary. The two Universe Worlds were close together, relatively speaking, otherwise Great Demon God would not have the idea to lay his hand on the Star Boundary in the first place.
But now the World’s Will would not work as he was too far away, so Yang Kai could not return to the Star Boundary even if he wanted to.
He was swallowed by the Myriad Facets Insect, and after forcefully escaping from it, he found himself in this new place.
[What the Hell was that bug? Where is Zhang Ruo Xi now?]
Yang Kai was totally clueless. He could only choose a random direction and try to find traces of Ruo Xi. He secretly prayed that she had also managed to escape the belly of the Myriad Facets Insect, otherwise he was afraid that even an Open Heaven Realm Master could not escape the fate of being eaten by such a monster.
Yang Kai was speeding through the void with a frown on his face. It was difficult to distinguish the passage of time in the Outer Universe, but it should have been half a year ever since he encountered the Myriad Facets Insects.
In the past six months, he had been looking for traces of Zhang Ruo Xi nearby. From time to time, he would try to use his Space Beacon; unfortunately, he found nothing and received no signal from Ruo Xi.
After wandering for half a year, Yang Kai experienced all kinds of dangers in the Outer Universe just as horrifying as the Myriad Facets Insect. There were countless frightening beings in this vast Outer Universe, and he had met several of them in this half year. Nevertheless, none of them were Myriad Facets Insects, but other monsters.
Basically, they were all massive in size, on par with the Myriad Facets Insect; however, although these beings had terrifying auras, they seemed to be lacking in sentience, just like the Myriad Facets Insect. As long as Yang Kai could see them far away and avoid them in time, he would be safe.
He even found a Universe World during this half-year of wandering.
It was a world similar to the Star Boundary, but before he approached, he felt that he was being targeted by several hostile intents.
Clearly, they were the Great Emperors of that world.
Although Yang Kai was also a Great Emperor now, it was extremely unwise to rush into someone else’s World recklessly; therefore, after realizing he was unwelcome, Yang Kai took a detour and left.
Thinking about it, given that Ruo Xi knew more about the Outer Universe than him and her strength was not low, there should not be a problem for her as long as she could escape from the belly of the Myriad Facets Insect.
But Yang Kai was not sure when they would meet again after the parting this time. The Outer Universe was so big that the probability of two people meeting randomly was just too small.
Another month later, Yang Kai had no choice but to accept reality. He gave up searching for Zhang Ruo Xi, identified a direction, and proceeded forward.
Now that he had leapt out of his original World and arrived in the Outer Universe, he should finish his unsettled business and look for clues about the mysterious World Tree.
Perhaps when he found the World Tree and returned to the Star Boundary, Zhang Ruo Xi would already be waiting for him there.
With such hope, Yang Kai forged onwards.
The lonely exploration and the wandering suddenly gave him a long-lost sense of familiarity. Long ago, when he first entered the Starry Sky from Tong Xuan Realm, and then to the Star Boundary from the Star Field, was he not facing the storm alone and eventually overcoming all obstacles spectacularly? Although the Outer Universe was dangerous, as long as he strived forward bravely, he would naturally make his way.
His mood was suddenly lifted, and he could not help looking forward to the path ahead.
One day, Yang Kai, who was speeding along, suddenly looked in a certain direction and his face changed drastically. Unsure if it was an illusion, he seemed to hear a vague call from that direction at the moment.
He immediately focused his mind and listened carefully, but he noticed nothing.
The void was dangerous, so Yang Kai naturally had to be vigilant at all times, and the Soul Warming Lotus was always closely guarding his consciousness against being invaded by foreign interference.
Yang Kai frowned slightly and felt strange about it, but he sensed no abnormalities; thus, he put down his worries and continued to move forward. After he travelled for a while though, the same noise called out to him again.
Yang Kai immediately halted his feet and his face turned solemn. It could be a misconception if it only happened once, but it did not make sense if it occurred again. It was not some figment of his imagination; there was really something out there.
After pondering for a moment, Yang Kai changed his direction and flew towards the source of the voice.
There were no changes in the Soul Warming Lotus, and he did not notice anything wrong either, so Yang Kai deduced that the voice should be harmless. His current knowledge about the Outer Universe was limited to the information Zhang Ruo Xi disclosed to him earlier, so if there really was someone out there, maybe he could learn something from them.
Of course, he had to be wary of danger, but asking for directions was better than him flying around like a headless fly.
There was no resistance travelling through the void, so Yang Kai could travel at his maximum speed easily. However, in order to watch out for some possible dangers, he still maintained a lower pace.
Moreover, Yang Kai had also found that the Outer Universe was remarkably clean over the past few months, unlike the Star Field which was dotted with Asteroid Seas. Now that he thought about it carefully, this phenomenon should have something to do with the Giant Spirit God Clan.
The Giant Spirit Gods had an Innate Divine Ability that allowed them to sniff out dying worlds in advance, which they could then move towards and wait to feed upon. Once the world died, they would devour the World clean.
Since the dead worlds had been eaten by the Giant Spirit Gods, it made sense there were no Asteroid Seas in the Outer Universe. They must have long been swallowed into the stomachs of the Giant Spirit Gods. Thinking about this, it seemed like the Giant Spirit Gods were the cleaners of the universe…
Yang Kai had no idea how long he had been flying, but the further he travelled, the more obvious the call in the dark became. Yang Kai could feel that he still had some distance from his destination, but it should not be too far now.
Until one day, a bright spot suddenly appeared in a nebula in front of him. Yang Kai’s eyes lit up, realizing that he had finally arrived. He fixed his eyes on it, and could not help being flabbergasted.
It was too far away for him to see clearly, but Yang Kai vaguely felt that… he was seeing something familiar.
He picked up speed, and a few days later, Yang Kai’s expression became strange.
In front of that, a huge oval light barrier stood quietly in the void. Strange lights constantly flashed on top of the light barrier, and from the oval light barrier were extremely clear Space Principle fluctuations.
[Territory Gate?] Yang Kai raised his brow.
He already found it to be familiar when he was far away. Now that he looked closer, it indeed looked familiar.
In the Demon Realm, the world was broken into pieces, and each continent relied on Territory Gates to connect to each other. The oval light barrier in front of him had the exact nature of a Territory Gate.
The only difference between them was their size. There was a world of difference between the size of this gate and the Territory Gates of the Demon Realm. The two were completely incomparable.
This Territory Gate was simply massive!
Yang Kai believed that even with the huge size of the Giant Spirit God and the Myriad Facets Insect, they could easily shuttle through this Territory Gate to the other side, that was how big this gate was.
Yang Kai could not help being fascinated by such a Territory Gate that emerged in the void all of a sudden, especially when the vague voice was calling out from this Territory Gate.
Although he had no idea what the exact name of this Territory Gate in the Outer Universe was, its function was clearly to shuttle between two places.
In a few days, Yang Kai finally arrived in front of the Territory Gate and stood ten thousand kilometres away from it. Feeling the vastness of the object and his own insignificance, Yang Kai sighed. The Outer Universe was truly full of wonders.
He could feel that this Territory Gate was not artificially refined but naturally occurring. The fluctuations of Space Principles were clearly transmitted from it, but they did not seem to be hazardous. Anyone should be able to pass through this gate as long as he possessed sufficient strength.
So the question was, where did this Territory Gate lead to? What was on the other side that kept calling out at him?
It took Yang Kai more than twenty hours to complete a circle around this enormous Territory Gate.
Standing in place, he scratched his head, debating whether or not to enter. It was really a tough decision for Yang Kai to make.
If he chose not to enter, what was the point of arriving here? Furthermore, other than encountering several gigantic and horrifying monsters in this more than half-a-year journey through the void, he only found a single Universe World, and had not experienced a single thing about civilization in the Outer Universe yet.
But if he chose to enter, he had no idea what would be waiting for him on the other side. What if Masters were waiting to ambush him? He could face some unexpected disaster as soon as he passed through the gate.
However, without a long hesitation, Yang Kai made up his mind, he would enter!
Along the way, he had encountered many dangers but escaped narrowly each time. If he became timid just because he was worried about the difficult path ahead, how could he continue to explore the Outer Universe? It was better to return to the Star Boundary and retire in that case. Moreover, his strength was not low now, so it was not like he was powerless to resist even if he really came across any danger.
Once a decision had been made, Yang Kai no longer hesitated.
With a flicker, he plunged into the Territory Gate in front of him.
The Territory Gate barely rippled as if a stone had been thrown into a vast sea. Only a small disturbance appeared at the place where Yang Kai entered, and it instantly recovered after.
Yang Kai, who entered the gate, felt the world spinning around him. The great pressure from the surrounding overwhelmed him, as if an infinite force was squeezing him from all directions.
Shocked, Yang Kai hurriedly circulated his Secret Art.
It was impossible to resist such pressure unless one was on par with a Great Emperor. In other words, only an existence who condensed their Dao Seal was qualified to pass through this Territory Gate.
After what felt like thousands of years, but was probably just an instant, the pressure around Yang Kai suddenly dissipated.
When he regained his senses, he realized he was still in an endless void, and after turning around, was even more at a loss.
[What the Hell?] After shuttling through the Territory Gate, the scene that he came to was just as inexplicable as after being swallowed by the Myriad Facet Insects. If it was not for the giant Territory Gate behind him, Yang Kai would think that he was still in the same place.
But after arriving here, the call in the dark became clearer.
Without hesitation, Yang Kai quickly rushed towards it.
Half a day later, Yang Kai suddenly stopped and stared ahead of him with a look of surprise.
In that void, a door appeared, and the voice that he kept hearing was reverberating from it.
Yang Kai almost could not believe his eyes and rubbed them vigorously before staring again. It was real, there was truly a door there, isolated, looking extremely out of place.
There was nothing extraordinary about the door. There was a door plate and a doorbell on the door, and two stone lions squatting on either side, baring their ferocious-looking fangs.
Usually, Yang Kai would not feel anything if he saw such a door in the Star Boundary, but in this vast empty void of the Outer Universe, how could a lone door like this not be bizarre?
When Yang Kai approached, he looked at the two stone lions squatting on either side of the door. He vaguely felt that these seemingly ordinary stone lion decorations were not as simple as they looked. Then again, if they were ordinary, how could they appear in the void?
Right at that moment, a voice came out of the door, “Where did this little friend come from? Forgive this Old Master for greeting you from afar. Please come in.”
The voice was gentle and welcoming, causing a warm feeling to fill Yang Kai’s body. Even though the voice appeared abruptly, it did not alarm him but made him feel comfortable instead.
However, Yang Kai was secretly stunned; after all, right in front of him was just a door. Although there were two stone lions squatting on either side of the door, there was no house behind it, so where was the speaker? Yang Kai peeped behind the door but found nothing.
By the sound of the voice, the speaker should not be young. After pondering for a while, Yang Kai felt like it was better for him to face things head-on and cupped his fists to ask, “Where is Old Sir? How can this Junior get in?”
The old voice laughed, “Just push the door.”
Yang Kai furrowed his brow but still nodded.
He put his hands on the door plates and pushed gently and the door opened, but what came into his view on the other side was not the scenery of a void that he imagined. At the moment of opening the door, a colourful light flashed before him, followed by a powerful suction that drew Yang Kai inside before he could respond.
When he regained his senses, he was standing on an expansive reef. The sound of sea waves echoed around his ears and as he looked up, he could see a blue sky filled with clouds.
Yang Kai blinked, and could not help shouting, “A Small Universe!”
Reaching the Open Heaven Realm required splitting Heaven and Earth apart from within to create an independent world, and this independent world was known as a Small Universe. Only Open Heaven Realm Masters could possess a Small Universe.
Laughter burst out from the side, “Little friend has good vision, this is indeed this Old Master’s Small Universe!”
Yang Kai turned in the direction of the voice and saw an old man with white hair and a beard standing nearby, a kind smile on his face. The old man was a little chubby, and the deep and numerous wrinkles on his face revealed the signs of ageing.
The old man was wearing a black, spotless robe and had the demeanour of a Senior Expert. With a round bowl in one hand, the old man’s fingers tapped rhythmically.
Strangely, there was no sound following his taps, but Yang Kai could obscurely perceive something from the movement.
Recalling the call that guided him all the way here, a sudden realization dawned on Yang Kai, “Is Old Sir the one who called me?”
The old man smiled lightly, “Indeed, where might I ask did little friend come from?”
Yang Kai answered, “My homeland is not a place worth being mentioned. In fact, I’m not certain what to call it.” Although the old man in front of him seemed harmless, he was still a true Open Heaven Realm Master. If he really wanted to make a move on Yang Kai, Yang Kai would probably be powerless to resist, especially inside the former’s Small Universe. Yang Kai did not expect that the first person he met in the Outer Universe would be an Open Heaven Realm Master. He had to stay alert against the people here, and it was better not to expose the name of the Star Boundary.
The old man did not mind it, and smiled faintly, “I see.” He did not continue asking, which surprised Yang Kai.
“Why did Old Sir call out to me?” Yang Kai was puzzled. If it had not been for this sudden summon, he would not have come here.
The old man replied with a smile, “This Old Master did not just summon you. I have just been picking up various Juniors who manage to free themselves of the shackles of various Universe Worlds.” While talking, he stretched out his hand and pointed aside.
Yang Kai looked at the place he pointed and found that the old man and he were not the only people in this Small Universe. There were other people on the surrounding reefs.
Fear crept into Yang Kai’s heart as he did not notice anything when he came in just now, and he was sure that he had clearly checked his surroundings and saw nobody at all. It meant that if it was not for the permission of the old man, he was afraid that he would not be able to see anything at all in this place.
Four other figures were present, three men and one woman.
A burly man, a dignified woman, a naive boy, and the last one looked like he was from the Monster Race. He had two horns on his forehead, but it was unclear which bloodline he carried.
Each of them sat on a reef nearby, looking at Yang Kai.
Yang Kai swept his eyes across them, and except for the naive-looking one who smiled back at Yang Kai, everyone else was expressionless. Although Yang Kai had no idea what kind of Realm these four were, since they could appear here, it meant that each of them was a Master on par with a Great Emperor in their own right, and had condensed their own Dao Seal. Otherwise, they would not be qualified to wander the Outer Universe.
Seeing this, combined with what the old man mentioned just now, Yang Kai asked in amazement, “Were these people summoned by Old Sir too?”
The old man nodded with a smile, “There are many dangers in the Outer Universe. It’s not a friendly place for newcomers like you. If you rush around rashly, you are likely to encounter some unpredictable dangers. This Old Master has set up here and used a Secret Technique to spread a summon far and wide. Those who perceive this summon will come here to meet this Old Master, just like little friend and the others.”
“Why did Old Sir do this?” Yang Kai was baffled.
“If this Old Master told you that it was to protect newcomers like you, would you believe it?”
Yang Kai shook his head slowly. After years of cultivation, even though Yang Kai dared not say that he had a clear understanding of Human nature, he did not believe that someone would do such a laborious task for no benefit whatsoever.
The old man guffawed, “It doesn’t matter if you believe it or not, but this is indeed one of this Old Master’s reasons.”
“Does that mean there are other reasons?” Yang Kai questioned.
“Another reason is that the force this Old Master belongs to needs to absorb new blood. There are countless large and small forces in the Outer Universe, and many will perform similar solicitations. It’s not uncommon to try to recruit new people who have just jumped out of the Inner Universe to strengthen their own forces. This Old Master is not the only one doing this. Little friend, it seems we share some common destiny, that is why you heard this Old Master’s call and came here.”
Yang Kai frowned slightly, “May I know what great force Old Sir belongs to?”
The old man replied, “You will know in the future. It’s useless to say too much now.”
“What if I don’t want to join Old Sir’s great force?” Yang Kai asked.
As soon as Yang Kai said this, he clearly felt the attention of the other four people on the reefs around him focus on him.
The old man responded, “That is your decision. This Old Master is only responsible for recruiting and guiding. Someone will explain everything to you when we go back. Whether to join or not will be up to you then. Just stay if you’re willing to join. If not, no one will force you.”
Yang Kai nodded. He had encountered this kind of situation once before when he entered the Ancestral Domain. Many great forces in the Ancestral Domain also sent out Masters to stake out territory and absorb new blood to strengthen their own forces.
But in comparison, the old man’s method was undoubtedly superior. Instead of waiting in place, hoping others would pass by, he actively used a technique to summon others to him across a great distance.
Yang Kai had nothing to lose in the Outer Universe, and now that he was separated from Zhang Ruo Xi, he did not even know where to go next. He just wanted to go somewhere with many people to get information. Since the old man had already said so much, Yang Kai naturally would not reject.
Of course, Yang Kai did not completely believe the old man’s words, but at least for now, he should be safe.
“Old Sir, I have one more question to ask you,” Yang Kai cupped his fists.
“You may ask.”
“This Junior leapt out of his Universe World with another friend to enter this vast Outer Universe, but we bumped into a monster called the Myriad Facets Insect on our way. After we were swallowed by it, I was brought to another place for some reason…”
At this point, the old man smiled lightly, “Don’t worry, your friend should not be in danger.”
“Please enlighten this Junior, Old Sir.”
“The Myriad Facets Insect is a special being in the Outer Universe. Its movements are unpredictable, but it is generally harmless. When you saw it from a distance, didn’t you see there were many holes on its body?”
“Exactly!”
“Those holes are connected to random corners of the vast Outer Universe. When you are swallowed up by Myriad Facets Insects, you inevitably come out of one of those holes and appear in a completely different place. Your friend’s experience is the same as yours, but where they were sent is unknown now.”
“Is that so?” Yang Kai was stunned.
Nevertheless, he instinctively felt that the statement of the old man in front of him should not be wrong. As he recalled now, from getting swallowed by the Myriad Facets Insect to escaping out of it, everything happened in just the blink of an eye. But when he got out, Yang Kai noticed obvious Space Principle fluctuations, as if he just experienced ultra-long-distance teleportation, which was consistent with the old man’s explanation.
In this way, Yang Kai was relieved to confirm that Zhang Ruo Xi was not in danger, but he had no clue where she was teleported to.
“Many thanks, Old Sir. This Junior still wants to ask…”
“You’ve travelled far, and must be tired. It would be best for little friend to rest first.” The old man looked at Yang Kai with a grin, and as he spoke, his fingers gently tapped on the round bowl again.
The doubt in Yang Kai’s heart calmed down at once, as if the question he had was something he should not have asked. He immediately looked ashamed and bowed, “Senior is right, then this Junior will not bother Senior any further.”
Yang Kai then retreated respectfully.
The old man nodded, closed his eyes, and continued casting his Secret Technique.
Yang Kai looked around, jumped onto an empty reef, sat cross-legged, and silently circulated his Secret Art. In the next moment, rich and pure World Energy poured into every pore of his body, greatly refreshing his spirit.
Although this was the old man’s Small Universe, it was also a world with the complete Yin, Yang, and Five Elements. The World Energy was also authentic, which could be absorbed to enhance Yang Kai’s strength.
Moreover, the World Energy in this Small Universe was far purer and more concentrated than in any natural place in the Star Boundary. Yang Kai opened his eyes quietly and saw that the other four people were devouring the World Energy around them hungrily. Seeing this, Yang Kai simply let go of his concerns, no longer worried about anything, and greedily began cultivating.
However, Yang Kai still used a portion of his Divine Sense to examine himself. When the old man uttered the last sentence, he clearly felt that he was unable to resist his words. In other words, he was completely obedient to the old man at that time, and that was the reason he felt ashamed. Fortunately, when the Soul Warming Lotus reacted, his mental state recovered.
Since the Soul Warming Lotus reacted like this, it proved that the old man definitely used some kind of Soul Technique on him in that moment. Yang Kai did not understand how it happened, it could be because of the old man’s high Realm and skill, or it could be due to the effect of the round bowl, but if he had not been protected by the Soul Warming Lotus, he could not imagine what would have happened just now.
Sure enough, nothing came for free in the world. The old man kept saying that he would not force anyone to join the great force behind him, but judging from his current behaviour, Yang Kai strongly believed that he may not end well if he rejected the old man’s offer.
But since Yang Kai was already here, there was no way for him to just leave now. Moreover, Yang Kai desperately wanted to travel somewhere with many people to get information. His understanding of the Outer Universe was only limited to the information disclosed by Zhang Ruo Xi before, and he was clueless about anything else as he had just entered this world. It would be good if he could follow the old man to join a great force, and then gather information carefully before making further plans.
On the other hand, Yang Kai was hoping that Zhang Ruo Xi could be attracted to this place too. Since Ruo Xi was swallowed by the Myriad Facets Insects with him at the same time, if luck was on their side, she may appear at a place not so far away and might be led here by the old man’s summon too.
If so, they could reunite.
Thinking this way, Yang Kai was no longer worried. He simply let go of his concerns and devoured the World Energy around him.
The three Humans and one Monster nearby acted like him too. Although Yang Kai did not know which Universe Worlds they all came from, it was obvious that they each came from different places. There were many differences in details from their clothing. However, no matter which Small World they came from, by their hungry looks for cultivation, they clearly had not stayed in a place with such a good cultivation environment before.
After what had happened earlier, Yang Kai suspected that these four people had already been influenced by the old man’s Secret Technique and were now obeying his commands.
The old man kept the same posture, holding a bowl in one hand and gently drumming it with the other hand. The invisible inspiration continued to spread into the world from this Small Universe, attracting more newcomers.
This was a bit like fishing, and the willing ones took the bait. If the person who perceived the inspiration did not have much curiosity or was paranoid enough, they would not come here.
Time flowed freely. Although the Small Universe was also a world, it was somewhere between ethereal and corporeal, and it would not be as wondrous as a true Universe World. The sun, moon, and stars were absent, and the scenery was invariable. By the look of it, it probably had something to do with the old man’s state of mind.
After an unknown amount of time, which Yang Kai estimated to be at least a year, the old man, still holding the bowl, smiled, “Where did this little friend come from? Forgive this Old Master for greeting you from afar. Please come in.”
It was the exact same speech as that of when Yang Kai arrived, not a single word was changed. When Yang Kai heard this, he knew that a newcomer was here. He could not help being excited, secretly hoping that it would be Zhang Ruo Xi.
Like him, the other four people who had been cultivating opened their eyes.
The next moment, a crisp and pleasant voice sounded, “Where are you, sneaky fellow? Show yourself!”
It was a woman’s voice, but it sounded quite young.
The old man laughed, “This Old Master is not a sneaky fellow. This Old Master is here, it is just that Young Lady cannot see me. Please come in.”
The woman outside the door squealed, “Why should I listen to you? This Young Lady doesn’t want to enter!” After a pause, she asked, “Are you in this door?” From the tone of the question, one could imagine that she was looking around the door curiously.
“En!” The old man nodded.
“Then come out and talk. I’ll wait for you outside the door.”
The old man chuckled, “Young Lady is quite vigilant.”
“Hmph, it’s necessary to be careful. I don’t even know who you are. Why should I enter easily?”
“You’re right.” The old man smiled. While talking, he suddenly formed his hand into a hand seal, “However, this Old Master insists on inviting Young Lady in.”
When the words fell, there was an exclamation outside the door, followed by the woman’s scolding, “Bastard, how dare you… Ahhh!”
After her shout, a wave of ripples permeated around the old man, followed by the appearance of a graceful figure. It was the woman who refused to enter the door earlier. She ended up being dragged in by the Old Master’s unknown method.
Yang Kai understood the situation. As long as one was led by the old man’s inspiration, whether they were willing or not, they had to enter the door and come to this Small Universe. Everything would go smoothly if one was willing; otherwise, they would be dragged in forcefully. A harmless smile was plastered on the old man’s face, but in fact, he was clearly quite domineering. In short, he was using his strength to bully the weak.
Yang Kai could not help raising his vigilance.
The woman seemed to have a hot temper and after being dragged in, a curtain of water immediately circulated around her. As soon as she raised her hand, the boundless water curtain turned into a white silk that shot towards the old man.
A gust of wind blew and joined itself with the white silk to form a rushing river. Yang Kai raised his brow and could not help praising this young woman in his heart.
How was this a real piece of white silk? It was clearly refined from a river. The rushing force contained a boundless Water Element that splashed everywhere wantonly.
“Impudence!” The four people who had been sitting upright on the reefs since before Yang Kai’s arrival rebuked in unison and rushed out together. The burly man swung his fists, the dignified woman took out a sword, the naive boy took out a treasure like a slingshot loaded with a stone, while the twin-horned Monster roared and turned into a tiger-like being.
Yang Kai was dumbfounded!
Nevertheless, he quickly regained his senses, jumped off the reef and sent the woman a palm strike.
The young woman’s face turned pale. Obviously, she did not expect to be besieged by so many people as soon as she entered this place. Although she was also a Master on the level of a Great Emperor and had condensed her own Dao Seal, all the others present were on par with her. It would be a draw even if it was a one-on-one fight, let alone one against five.
The white silk that was pumped out was immediately withdrawn and turned into a water curtain wrapping around her.
Following after a rumbling sound, the water curtain shattered and the young woman fell out of her wall of defence, the blood drained from her face.
A Master as strong as a Great Emperor, was now sitting on the ground with tears in her eyes, covering her rear with her hands, looking helpless as she cried, “You… You’re all bullies!”
She looked like a child who lost a fight…
Yang Kai wanted to laugh, but he did not find it to be appropriate.
“You are all bullies just because you have numbers on your side!” The young woman sat on the ground, unable to get up, glaring at Yang Kai and the rest before finally fixing her eyes on the old man and shouting, “Fight me alone with me if you have the courage!”
The old man maintained his smile, however, and asked, “Young Lady, do you really want to fight alone with me?”
“Yes, just you and me, don’t involve them!” The young woman stretched out her hand and pointed one by one at Yang Kai and the others.
The old man shook his head gradually, “You are no match for this Old Master.”
“How can you be sure before we fight?” The young woman looked unconvinced.
“Then, do you want to try?” The old man teased her with great interest.
“Of course I want to try!” The woman clenched her teeth and clamoured. There was still nothing unusual when she uttered the first word, but when she finished the last word, she had rushed in front of the old man, as vigorous as a tiger. Her slender palm turned crystal clear, a mysterious power fluctuating around it as it slammed towards the old man.
A smile still on his face, the old man just looked at her quietly and without doing anything, lightly spoke, “Solidify!”
The woman was instantly stiffened in front of the old man, completely immobilized. It seemed that she had only realized the huge gap between her and the old man now and her face turned pale involuntarily, her long lashes trembling endlessly.
“Do you want to try again?” The old man challenged.
The young woman blinked her eyes, and became exceptionally obedient, “I dare not.”
“If you don’t dare, stop,” The old man waved his hand.
As soon as he said this, the young woman immediately regained her freedom. Her offensive momentum did not stop at once, and her whole body swiftly charged forward. She quickly bent her knees and half-knelt on the ground, with her fists cupping, “Junior was naïve and thought that she was invincible in this world. Today, I have realized there are actually people beyond people after meeting Senior. Please accept this Junior as a Disciple. This Disciple will be respectful and filial to Master in the future!”
Her movements were slick and neat, without a single unnecessary motion. Her speech was also notably smooth, as if she had said it countless times before, but her look was extremely sincere.
Everyone present, including the old man, were shocked by the young woman’s behaviour.
Yang Kai was also dumbstruck and asked himself, [Who is this girl? Earlier, she was still yelling rudely in front of him, so how did she turn so quickly to worship the old man in the blink of an eye? This change of heart is a little too drastic…]
On the contrary, the burly man and Monster Race youth showed looks of regret after regaining their senses.
The dignified woman also seemed to be moved, but the naïve boy looked like he did not care at all.
There was dead silence, as if someone had performed a petrification technique; only the sound of the lapping waves remained.
Suddenly, the old man laughed and stretched out his hand to hold the young woman’s arm, “This Old Master is grateful to see your sincerity; however, we will talk about the matter being this Old Master’s Disciple later. This Old Master does not know much about your character or aptitude yet, so I will still need to observe you more in the future. If you match this Old Master’s requirements, I will consider accepting you as my Disciple.”
The woman was overjoyed, “Future Disciple thanks Master in advance!”
“What is your name?”
The woman replied with a grin, “Disciples name is Ah Sun.”
“Where are you from?”
Ah Sun shook her head, “This Disciple has no idea. The world where this disciple came from has been shattered. This Disciple is the only living survivor from that place.” Her eyes became full of sadness as she spoke.
“Everything comes to an end, even the world. Don’t mind it too much. Now that you have jumped out of the shackles of the Inner Universe, you will see a vaster world. Isn’t it better than being confined to one place?”
“Master is right!” Ah Sun nodded repeatedly with a happy face, “Ah Sun’s home is gone, so in the future, Master’s home will be Ah Sun’s home.”
The old man did not respond to her, but turned to the others, “Well, we have an appropriate number now, so let us return.”
Hearing what he said, Yang Kai and the others were delighted. Although the cultivation environment here was good, since all of them had leapt out of their respective Universe Worlds, they naturally wanted to explore more of this vast sky. They were looking forward to leaving this place, and following the old man to the force behind him.
The old man did not waste any time after announcing their departure. He beckoned everyone, pointed in front of him, and a door immediately materialized.
Yang Kai looked at it and realized that the door was the one he had seen in the void earlier.
The old man pushed open the door, which squeaked noisily, and all of them rushed into it and came to the place before they entered. The door immediately became distorted and transformed into a big ship. Two ropes of light extended from the bow of the ship and tied themselves around the two stone lions.
The stone lions were the two that were squatting on either side of the door previously, and seeing this, Yang Kai immediately knew that he was right. The two stone lions were really not ordinary things, otherwise, how could there be such a transformation?
At this moment, the two stone lions expanded, their bodies permeating a notably violent aura as they shook their majestic heads.
The newcomers on board the ship were dumbfounded. Not to mention the wondrous transformation of the stone lions, the aura permeated from the two was not inferior to, and possibly even exceeded their own.
In other words, the strength of these two stone lions was more likely to be higher than theirs.
They were each overlords of their own Universe Worlds, Great Emperors who had condensed their Dao Seal; however, now that they came to the Outer Universe, they could not help feeling bitter seeing these two beasts that were used to pull a ship were stronger than them.
The old man looked at the expressions of the people and smiled at their shocked faces.
“Wow, Master, what are these two things? They look so powerful!” Ah Sun stood on the bow of the ship, looking down and exclaimed with an astonished face.
The old man did not deliberately correct the way she addressed him, or maybe he just did not care about it, and instead smiled and answered, “These two little things were originally two stone fetuses of our Seven Wonders Land. They then gained sentience through a certain opportunity. This Old Master found them useful, so he used them as watchers and to pull this ship.”
“Seven Wonders Land?” Yang Kai raised his brow, “May I ask Senior, is the Seven Wonders Land that you mentioned just now the place we are going to?”
For a year in the Small Universe, he did not communicate with the old man, so he had no idea where the old man came from. Now when the old man mentioned this, it naturally piqued his interest.
“En!” The old man nodded.
“Is Seven Wonders Land one of the Seventy-Two Paradises?” The burly man suddenly asked with a fervent face.
“Oh? You know of the Seventy-Two Paradises?” The old man looked at the burly man with a smile.
The burly man replied respectfully, “Junior hails from Black River World. There was a Great Senior Expert who returned once to my world and shared some experiences with this Junior, so this Junior knows that there are Thirty-Six Cave Heavens and Seventy-Two Paradises in the Outer Universe.”
The old man nodded in understanding, “Do you know this Senior well, or which great force he belongs to?”
The burly man shook his head, “I don’t know.”
“Did he leave a Faith Token for you so that you could find him?” The old man questioned again.
The burly man stretched his hand into his pocket, took out something, and handed it over respectfully, “This is the Faith Token left by that Senior.”
Yang Kai had sharp eyes and instantly saw that it was a piece of jade, but it was an unknown type of jade, unlike any he had seen before. There was a small fish swimming around like a living creature inside this jade, and although he had no idea what the fish in the jade was, Yang Kai could vaguely feel that it contained some mysterious Principle Strength.
Fear surged in Yang Kai’s heart as chills ran up his spine.
Not because of this Faith Token, but because of the burly man’s unreserved manner towards the old man.
He was ambushed by the old man once before and was only safe due to the protection of the Soul Warming Lotus. Yang Kai wondered at the time whether the old man had manipulated the others too.
However, it was still just a speculation, and Yang Kai did not really care about other people’s affairs.
It wasn’t until when Ah Sun was dragged into the Small Universe, attempted to hurt the old man, and was besieged by the burly man and the others that Yang Kai realized that his guess was accurate.
How could these four Great Emperors from different Universe Worlds act like that if they had not been manipulated by the old man? Even if they tried to please the old man, how could they make a move at the exact same time?
By the look of it, this jade was definitely an exceptionally valuable thing for the burly man. With the guidance of the jade, he could certainly find the whereabouts of his Senior from his own world and join him. At that time, he would naturally be well taken care of. Why would he have to plead with others?
The burly man took out such a valuable thing immediately after the old man asked casually, and the problem was, he had not the slightest reservations against the old man.
The several people nearby did not find it strange either; instead, they acted like everything was reasonable…
After the burly man took out the jade, the old man squinted his eyes slightly. He grabbed the jade and examined it carefully. After a moment, he revealed a smile, “Since it is a reward from your Senior, store it carefully. It could be useful in the future.”
The burly man nodded gently, put away the jade, and turned to glare at the others. He acted like this not because he did not know the value of his jade, but because he was influenced by the old man’s Secret Technique to lower his guard.
For now, Yang Kai could not see how much of an effect this mental suggestion had; however, he was finally able to confirm that those who entered the Small Universe were being influenced by the old man. That said, he wasn’t sure about Ah Sun yet.
“I know you all have a lot of questions. Let us talk on our trip back.” The old man gently raised his hand while speaking, and the two stone lions tethered to the ship in front immediately raised their heads and charged forward with a roar.
In an instant, the ship began moving at lightning speed.
Yang Kai was shocked. Although the two stone lions looked ordinary, he did not expect them to be so fast. No wonder they would be taken in by the old man as steeds to pull his ship.
After travelling for a while, the old man spoke, “Someone just asked if Seven Wonders Land is one of the Seventy-Two Paradises.” He turned to the burly man, and shook his head, “Seven Wonders Land is not one of the Seventy-Two Paradises.”
“Master, what are the Seventy-Two Paradises?” Ah Sun questioned curiously with her eyes blinking.
Other than her, the dignified woman, the naïve boy, and the male Monster revealed puzzled expressions. They obviously were clueless about it too. Yang Kai followed the crowd and looked at the old man blankly.
Perhaps it was because he was returning to his home, but the old man was clearly in a good mood and started explaining, “There are countless wondrous places in this vast Outer Universe, but they can also be divided into many different grades. The strongest great forces occupy the best territories, and the weak ones occupy lower-level places. Although all of you came from different Universe Worlds, this principle still applies. Among the many territories, the best ones are divided between the Seventy-Two Paradises and Thirty-Six Cave Heavens. They are the top great forces and can shake the entire Outer Universe.”
“Oh!” Ah Sun was enlightened, “Disciple understands now.”
The old man continued, “If our Seven Wonders Land occupied one of the Seventy-Two Paradises, we would not be called Seven Wonders Land anymore, but Seven Wonders Paradise. Do you understand?” The old man explained to the burly man.
The burly man nodded, “Many thanks for dispelling my doubts, Senior.”
“It’s fine, it’s not a secret anyway. You will naturally know this if you stay in Outer Universe for long enough.”
Yang Kai inferred, “According to Senior, does this mean those top great forces all have ‘Cave Heaven’ or ‘Paradise’ behind their names?”
“Basically so, but not all!” The old man shook his head, “For example, Myriad Demons Heaven occupies a Cave Heaven, but instead of calling itself Myriad Demons Cave Heaven, its name is just Myriad Demons Heaven.”
Yang Kai blinked his eyes, [Myriad Demons Heaven… This name sounds like the place where Demons gather. Did Mo Sheng come from that place?] Myriad Demons Heaven must be amazing to be recognized as a Cave Heaven in this vast Outer Universe. If they were told that Mo Sheng died in the Star Boundary, he was unsure whether they would avenge the latter or not.
But on second thought, Mo Sheng’s body was destroyed and he wasted tens of thousands of years scheming to acquire the Auspicious Spirit Essence of the Star Boundary. If the great force behind him knew his situation, how could they ignore it? At once, Yang Kai was relieved. Even if Mo Sheng was born in Myriad Demons Heaven, Myriad Demons Heaven definitely did not know about his case.
The old man pressed on, “However, although our Seven Wonders Land can’t compare with those Cave Heavens and Paradises, it can be considered outstanding in the 3,000 Worlds. The master of our Seven Wonders Land is Qi Qiao Heavenly Monarch, who is proficient in the Alchemic Dao. The Spirit Pills that he refines have a good reputation. Even those Cave Heavens and Paradises request Alchemy Services from our Seven Wonders Land from time to time.”
“So powerful!” Ah Sun looked shocked.
The old man smiled lightly, “You will know in the future. This Old Master only disclosed this because you asked.”
Yang Kai immediately wanted to ask about Open Heaven Pills, since it was the currency in the Outer Universe according to Zhang Ruo Xi, equivalent to Source Crystals in the Star Boundary. Since Qi Qiao Heavenly Monarch was proficient in Alchemy, he should also be able to refine Open Heaven Pills.
When Zhang Ruo Xi talked about Open Heaven Pills before, Yang Kai was thinking of trying to get the recipe for himself, but he did not expect to have a clue so soon.
However, according to the situation in the Outer Universe, the pill recipe of Open Heaven Pills was definitely one of the top secrets of any great force, certainly not easy to acquire.
Moreover, Yang Kai did not know what kind of great force this Seven Wonders Land was. Judging from this old man’s character and behaviour, Seven Wonders Land was definitely not a decent force, and he suspected all the old man’s previous words were just extravagant boasting.
In the following time, whether it was the dignified woman, the naive boy, or the Monster Race man, all of them asked the questions that they wanted to know. Like Yang Kai, they were led by the old man’s summon after leaping out of their own Universe World and were confused about the things here.
At least Yang Kai had Zhang Ruo Xi to solve his doubts. Although he did not know much, his knowledge about the Outer Universe was at least better than theirs, except for the burly man who had a Senior that left him some information about the Outer Universe.
The journey was long, but the old man answered all their questions, which benefited everyone on the ship greatly.
They passed several Territory Gates during the journey…
The so-called Territory Gates were almost identical to the Territory Gates that Yang Kai shuttled through before. It worked to transfer people between two places.
The Outer Universe was too vast, so without these connecting Territory Gates that were scattered all over, it would be extremely difficult to go from one place to another even for those powerful Masters, and the time it would take was absolutely unbearable for anyone.
But it was a different story with these Territory Gates. Although it would still take some time, it greatly improved the efficiency of travelling in general.
Yang Kai, who knew the convenience of Space Arrays, was deeply amazed by this.
The reason a Territory Gate was called a Territory Gate was that the Outer Universe was divided into numerous territories of various sizes. Countless great forces coexisted in these territories.
Although it was a lonesome journey, everyone communicated with each other apart from with the old man, making for a harmonious atmosphere. The young woman, Ah Sun, who was the liveliest of them all, had already gotten close to the dignified woman in just a few days.
It was only a month later when Ah Sun, who was looking around on the bow of the ship, suddenly spotted something and shouted, “Master, there’s something over there!”
They had travelled across this vast void, and although the surrounding scenery was beautiful, they lost their interest towards it after such a long time. A sudden appearance of something unusual immediately attracted Ah Sun’s attention.
Yang Kai and the others, who were leaning on the side of the ship, ran to the front when they heard her shouting. At a glance, there was a large cloud in the void from a distance. It was blurry inside, as if some sort of barrier was isolating it, which hindered them from seeing through even with the cultivation they had.
The old man smiled lightly, “We’re here.”
Ah Sun asked excitedly, “Is that Seven Wonders Land?”
The old man nodded, “En.”
Looks of anticipation filled their faces when they heard the old man, even Yang Kai was no exception. Although he felt that the old man and this Seven Wonders Land were not a righteous power, this was the first great force he came into contact with in the Outer Universe ever since he jumped out of the Star Boundary, so it was natural for him to be a little curious about it. More importantly, according to the old man, Qi Qiao Heavenly Monarch, the master of Seven Wonders Land, was an Alchemy Grandmaster.
Perhaps he could count on him to obtain the Open Heaven Pill recipe.
When the old man’s words fell, the two stone lions that were pulling the ship suddenly changed their direction and galloped towards the cloud.
After a few hours, they finally came to the edge of the cloud. The old man stood on the bow of the ship and pointed, his fingertips gleaming with a golden light. The next moment, the dense clouds split to both sides on their own, opening a path forward.
The stone lions did not change their pace, and continued to charge into the path with the ship behind them, the clouds closing behind them.
After penetrating through the vast white world, everyone regained their vision, realizing they were in a new world. Above them was a clear blue sky, and below them were clear waters and lush mountains. It was amazing scenery.
Moreover, the World Energy was exceptionally rich. Compared to the cultivation environment that everyone had experienced in the old man’s Small Universe previously, it was just as good, superior even.
After all, the previous place was just the old man’s Small Universe, halfway between ethereal and corporeal. Nevertheless, this was a complete world, so it was normal to have some differences between them.
Yang Kai sensed the environment quietly. The World Principles were perfect and solid, stronger than the Star Boundary’s. If anyone with adequate aptitude cultivated in such an environment, there would be no problem for him to reach the Emperor Realm.
“Master, what’s over there?” Ah Sun, the one who was most curious, questioned as she pointed in another direction.
The old man answered, “You will know in the future.”
“Oh,” Ah Sun did not ask further. After more than a month of being together, she learnt that the old man would only answer if he was willing to; otherwise, no one could force him to say things that he did not wish to disclose.
Yang Kai glanced casually in the direction she pointed, and found that it was a land of fiery red mountains and fields, like a large orchard. Many fruit trees were planted there, and there were many people busying themselves tending to them.
The orchard was so huge that he could not see its end at a glance. Yang Kai estimated that the orchard occupied one-third of this world.
Curiosity grew in him. He wondered what Spirit Fruits were planted there. Given that so many Spirit Fruits were grown here, the nutrients needed to nurture them would surely not be small in quantity. Where did these nutrients come from though?
In addition to the vast orchard, there were some scattered buildings on the ground below.
In general, this place had beautiful and picturesque scenery.
The ship descended and soon came to a huge palace. There was already a group of people waiting in front of the palace. The group leader was a young man in blue, his eyes glowing with vigour and his brow sharp, giving him an outstanding air.
When the ship landed, the young man immediately shouted, “Welcome back, Venerable!”
A group of people behind them echoed him with high spirit.
In a flash of brilliance, the ship turned back into a door, which then disappeared. Everyone landed on the ground, while the two stone lions pulling the ship flew away and soon settled on the left and right sides of the palace, turning into two motionless lion-like stone mountains.
Behind the old man, Yang Kai and the others looked around curiously.
The young leader came forward, glanced at Yang Kai and the rest, then smiled lightly, “Venerable has found a lot of new blood this time.”
The old man returned with a smile too, “Luck is on our side. You may make arrangements for them.”
The young man responded respectfully.
The old man asked, “Is Heavenly Monarch here?”
The young man answered, “Heavenly Monarch departed after receiving a message from someone six months ago and has not returned yet.”
The old man nodded, “Remember to inform me when Heavenly Monarch returns.”
“Yes!”
After issuing the order, the old man turned to Yang Kai and the others, “Follow him and he will make arrangements for you.” Then, he went into the palace.
The young man took the lead, and the group of people saw off the old man respectfully.
“Just who is my Venerable Master?” Ah Sun asked curiously.
“Master?” The young man looked back at Ah Sun.
When Ah Sun pointed in the direction where the old man went, the young man’s face instantly darkened, “Where’s this little girl from? If you dare to talk nonsense again, I’ll cut out your tongue!”
An enormous aura swept in all directions as he bellowed.
Ah Sun’s pretty face changed drastically, and she stepped back staggeringly. Fortunately, Yang Kai reached out his hand and helped her so that she did not fall to the ground, but her face turned extremely ugly.
The faces of Yang Kai and the rest did not look good either. They were not angry about anything, but the young man’s aura was so strong that they could barely withstand it.
[He’s not an Open Heaven Realm!] Yang Kai had the experience of fighting against the Great Demon God, so he could see that the young man had not reached the Open Heaven Realm, but he should be very close to it.
It was probably the Half-Step Open Heaven Realm cultivation that Zhang Ruo Xi once mentioned, which was the existence that condensed the power of Yin, Yang, and Five Elements in his body.
The young man looked at Ah Sun coldly, “Venerable is the Venerable Protector of our Fire Spirit Land. Reckless little girl, where are you from? How dare you speak like this!”
Ah Sun’s face flushed. Under the suppression of this man’s aura, she could not utter a word, and could only respond with tears rolling in her eyes.
The young man snorted coldly, “I’ll forgive you this time as you’re new here and don’t understand the rules. If you dare spout nonsense again, you will be punished harshly, understood!?”
Ah Sun nodded bitterly.
The young man swept his eyes across Yang Kai and the others with both hands folded behind his back, “The same goes for all of you! No matter where you came from or what status or position you had before, since you have come to Fire Spirit Land, you must abide by the rules here! You will have no worries if you follow the rules, but if you don’t, your end will be miserable.”
The Male Monster cupped his fists and asked, “Sir, may I know what the rules of this Fire Spirit Land are?”
The young man announced arrogantly, “The words of this King are the rules.”
The Male Monster nodded, “Understood.”
Seeing that the Male Monster was so sensible, the young man’s expression relaxed, “This King is not sure if Sir Venerable has told you anything before. It doesn’t matter if he hasn’t, because I’m going to tell you now. This place is the Fire Spirit Land of our Seven Wonders Land. Sir Venerable is the Heavens and Earth here, so no disobedience to his words will be tolerated. Do you understand?”
Everyone nodded in acknowledgement.
“Good.” The young man continued, “However, Sir Venerable is busy; therefore, as a Disciple of Fire Spirit Land, this King will supervise you during normal times. My surname is Du while my given name is Ru Feng. If you have any questions in the future, you can inquire from this King. If it is something you should know, this King will tell you; otherwise, you won’t get an answer even if you ask.”
“Since today is your first day in Fire Spirit Land, this King won’t say too much. You will understand everything here given some time. You have three days to rest. After three days, someone will give you your assignments.”
After that, the young man waved his hand, and a cold-looking middle-aged woman immediately came out from behind and beckoned, “Come with me.”
Then she soared to the sky.
Yang Kai and the others exchanged looks, and could only follow after her.
During the whole conversation, no one dared to ask anything other than the Male Monster. As for what the old man declared at the beginning about those who wanted to stay could stay while those who wanted to leave could leave, it was clearly just empty talk. After leading Yang Kai and the rest here, he went into the palace and did not show up again. Du Ru Feng did not even ask Yang Kai and the others if they were willing to stay; instead, he made all the decisions on his own.
However, although Du Ru Feng did not disclose too much, Yang Kai caught some information. This place was Fire Spirit Land of Seven Wonders Land. In other words, there should be other places besides Fire Spirit Land. Furthermore, the name Seven Wonders Land seemed to be related to Yin, Yang and the Five Elements. Yang Kai could not help guessing whether Seven Wonders Land was composed of seven Spirit Lands. If so, this place would be interesting.
The middle-aged woman, who had a cold and fierce aura, did not talk much. In addition to the pressure from Du Ru Feng before, everyone remained silent while following her all the way. No one dared to ask more questions.
However, Yang Kai observed secretly and found that the direction they were going was the location of the huge orchard he had just seen from the sky. The cultivation of this middle-aged woman should also be about the Emperor Realm, but he could not see whether she had condensed her Dao Seal or not for the time being.
An hour later, a vast area of undulating houses appeared in front of them, surrounded by green mountains and clear rivers. At first sight, the place looked like a land of idyllic beauty.
There was a large plaque at the front of the village, with two characters engraved on it, ‘Worker’s Room’!
Yang Kai and the others exchanged dry looks.
Although they came from different Universe Worlds, they were not stupid enough to not understand the meaning of the word ‘Worker’. They could not help thinking, [We were brought to Fire Spirit Land by that Venerable to be labourers?]
Standing in front of the village, the woman took out a bell and rang it gently. The bell jingled, and a man as thin as a bamboo stick flew out of the village. He did not look old, but his clothes looked oversized, and hung loosely on him, which made him seem amusing from a distance.
When he flew closer, the bamboo man cupped his fists, “Senior Sister Yao.”
He glanced across Yang Kai and the others with a light smile, “These people look unfamiliar…”
The woman surnamed Yao interjected coldly, “They were all brought back by Sir Venerable.”
The bamboo man responded, “Sir Venerable is back?”
The woman surnamed Yao nodded gently and pointed at Yang Kai and the others as she continued, “These people are handed over to you now. It’s not often we have new people here. If you complain about the shortage of manpower again, find your own solution.”
“Enough, enough!” The bamboo pole man beamed happily, “If I, Zhou Zheng, still cannot finish the task after Sir Venerable worked so hard to find these helpers, I will offer up my head!”
The woman surnamed Yao snorted coldly, “You better!”
After speaking, she turned and left.
Zhou Zheng shouted at her back, “Senior Sister Yao, are you leaving now? Junior Brother has just harvested some good quality tea. Would Senior Sister like to try it?”
There was no response from her.
Seeing the woman surnamed Yao left, Zhou Zheng who was smiling rubbed his hands and started to examine Yang Kai and the others excitedly. He introduced himself with a smile, “My name is Zhou Zheng, the one in charge of this Worker’s Room. You can call me Manager Zhou!”
Everyone cupped their fists and greeted in unison, “Greetings, Manager Zhou.”
Zhou Zheng nodded, “You all are so blessed. Tsk tsk, really blessed.”
The burly man frowned, “May I know what kind of blessing you are referring to?” Although he did not know what they would face next, it was obvious that they would not have a good life in the future being sent to the Worker’s Room. In their respective Universe Worlds, they were all peak Masters, so it was natural for them to feel bitter to be treated this way when they came here.
Zhou Zheng laughed, “Are you new to the Outer Universe?”
Everyone nodded.
“Then do you know about the Open Heaven Realm?”
“Venerable briefly mentioned it on the way here.”
“That makes things simple.” Zhou Zheng grinned like a sneaky thief, and continued with both hands folded behind his back, “If you want to reach the Open Heaven Realm, you need to open a Small Universe in your own body by splitting Heaven and Earth apart. And in order to form said Small Universe, you must first condense the power of Yin, Yang, and Five Elements. Do you know why this Seven Wonders Land is called Seven Wonders Land?”
Without waiting for an answer, Zhou Zheng explained himself, “Because our Seven Wonders Land is composed of seven Spirit Lands. Now you are in the Fire Spirit Land. Other than this, there is Yin Spirit Land, Yang Spirit Land, Metal Spirit Land, Wood Spirit Land, Water Spirit Land, and Earth Spirit Land. Our Seven Wonders Land is a unique existence in the entire Outer Universe. No other great force has such an advantageous environment.”
There was a change in the dignified woman’s expression at his words, “Does Manager Zhou mean that Seven Wonders Land can meet our needs in condensing the power of Yin, Yang, and the Five Elements?”
Zhou Zheng answered with a smile, “Yes! In this way, it will save you from wandering around and looking for resources to condense the necessary Elements. In other words, as long as you stay in Seven Wonders Land long enough, you will have the opportunity to be promoted to the Open Heaven Realm. This opportunity is not something that disciples of other forces can obtain. So, don’t you think this is your blessing!?”
The Male Monster was pleasantly surprised and asked, “Really?”
Zhou Zheng cackled, “Why should I lie to you? You can go around and ask others. It’s not a secret anyway.”
“That’s indeed a blessing for us!” The Male Monster was overjoyed.
To the side, Ah Sun questioned with her eyes blinking, “Is Manager an Open Heaven Realm Master now?”
Zhou Zheng cleared his throat when he heard the question, “Not yet, but that is mainly due to my laziness in cultivation. If I worked harder, promoting to Open Heaven Realm won’t be a problem. Remember not to procrastinate when you cultivate in the future; otherwise, you’ll end up like me. Good, let’s not talk too much, there will be many opportunities in the future anyway. Follow me.” He then turned around and led the way.
Yang Kai and the others followed closely.
As they entered the village, they saw houses lining the street on either side. Each of the houses seemed to possess some barriers. Some doors were closed with activated barriers, while some doors were open, in front of which some people stood and watched Yang Kai and the others coldly. The owners of these houses were both Humans and Monsters, all of them with cultivations in the Emperor Realm, but there was still a difference in strength among them.
After a while, a charming voice called out, “Manager Zhou, are these new people?”
Zhou Zheng looked at the source of the sound with a smile, “Yes, Venerable came back and brought us some new blood.”
Yang Kai and the others also looked to the source of the voice. In front of a house over there, a lithe figure leaned casually on the door frame. The woman looked indolent and her hair was a little dishevelled as if she had just woken up. She crossed her arms in front of her chest, and smiled, “That means less work for us in the future.”
She then turned to greet Yang Kai and the others, “This Elder Sister lives here. If you don’t understand anything in the future, just look for me. This Elder Sister likes to teach beginners.” She giggled while speaking. Her voice was euphonious, as if it had infinite attraction to it.
No one knew how to answer her, so they pretended they did not hear what she said.
They walked all the way to one of the houses with its door closed, only then did Zhou Zheng stop, turn to look at Yang Kai and the others, and point at the burly man, “You’ll live here from now on.”
Zhou Zheng tossed a Jade Token to the man casually, “This is the Access Token of this house. You can refine it yourself. You have three days to rest, after which this Manager will tell you what you need to do. You don’t have to think about anything in these three days; just have a good rest.”
The burly man nodded and held the Jade Token in his hand, circulating his power to refine it.
Zhou Zheng continued to lead the others forward.
It was Yang Kai’s turn when they arrived at the third ownerless house. Similar to the previous two people, Zhou Zheng gave him an Access Token and asked him to refine it before leading the rest of the people away.
Yang Kai was not sure if the house was inhabited before, but there was no trace of a former owner in the token, so it was easy to refine.
Yang Kai spent only a stick’s worth of incense to complete the refinement before waving the Jade Token in front of the house, opening the barriers, and pushing the door in.
There was no unpleasant smell and the facilities in the house were notably simple. It covered an area of only a few dozen square meters and was divided into two floors. There were tables and chairs on the lower floor, probably a place to welcome guests. Following the stairs up to the second floor was just a bed and a mattress, which should be a place for him to rest.
A Spirit Array was set up in the house, and Yang Kai could clearly feel that the World Energy was being gathered by it, making the environment feel quite comfortable.
Such a place would be a cultivation treasure land that everyone competed for in the Star Boundary, but in Seven Wonders Land, it was only the residence of a Worker.
It was hard to imagine where the Manager, the Disciples, and even the Venerable Protector lived.
After activating the barriers, the house was isolated again. While comprehending the various functions of the Access Token, Yang Kai was thinking about his current situation too.
No doubt it was a good thing to be introduced into Seven Wonders Land as he was a newcomer to the Outer Universe, but he was a little shocked to be a Worker as soon as he arrived.
Yang Kai couldn’t help recalling how he ended up being a floor sweeper because of his unsatisfactory progress when he first stepped onto the Martial Dao and joined High Heaven Pavilion.
His current scene reminded him greatly of that time. The only difference was that the power he mastered at that time was by no means comparable to his power now.
This time, he had the capital to resist.
However, this was someone else’s territory after all, and there were Open Heaven Realm Masters standing guard. Since his life was not threatened now, Yang Kai was not willing to cause trouble, so he decided to take things one step at a time.
In Yang Kai’s view, however, the ‘blessing’ Zhou Zheng mentioned was just an exaggeration.
The others had no idea about the secrets of breaking through to the Open Heaven Realm, but Yang Kai was different. It was true that he had to condense the power of Yin, Yang, and Five Elements to be promoted to the Open Heaven Realm, as Zhang Ruo Xi told him as much. Furthermore, he had condensed his Wood Element already, and of the highest Order possible.
Nevertheless, Zhou Zheng did not mention the most important information, which was the Order of the materials here!
Perhaps it was true that Seven Wonders Land gathered the power of Yin, Yang, and the Five Elements, which was sufficient to meet the requirements of a cultivator to break through to the Open Heaven Realm, but the Order of these resources certainly would not be high. Otherwise, there would be countless powerful Open Heaven Realm Masters in Seven Wonders Land.
From the information Yang Kai now had in his hands, there should not be too many Open Heaven Realm Masters in Seven Wonders Land; otherwise, they would not occupy just a small piece of territory like this, but would be competing to be a part of the Seventy-Two Paradises and Thirty-Six Cave Heavens.
Among these Open Heaven Realm Masters, Qi Qiao Heavenly Monarch must be one of them, much like the Venerable Protector who led them here earlier. As for others, Yang Kai had no way to know.
However, to have at least eight Open Heaven Realm Masters assuming command here, although a great force like Seven Wonders Land could not compete with the likes of Cave Heavens and Paradises, it was overall not too bad in the Outer Universe.
When Yang Kai first arrived here, what he saw and heard gave him a rough understanding of Seven Wonders Land’s strength; and now, as a Worker of Seven Wonders Land Fire Spirit Land, he did not know what kind of future awaited him in three days.
After pondering for a while, Yang Kai walked out of his room and towards a house on the left.
Yang Kai recalled that this house was occupied by a young man. Now that he had nothing to do, he decided to use the time to gather information.
He needed to know what exactly a Worker was supposed to do here.
But judging from Zhou Zheng’s attitude today, it was obviously not going to be a difficult task even if it required some hard work.
The houses here were not densely built, with each one being separated from the other by several tens of metres. Yang Kai reached the front of the neighbouring house with just a few strides to see that the barriers were deactivated. The door was closed, so Yang Kai raised his hand and knocked on the door. After waiting for a while, the door opened. The young man who greeted him earlier stood by the door and looked at Yang Kai indifferently “What?”
Yang Kai cupped his fists and started, “This friend, please enlighten this little brother. I’m new here and I don’t know anything about this place, so I thought…”
“Get out!” The young man slammed the door shut without waiting for Yang Kai to finish.
Yang Kai rubbed his nose, speechless. There was nothing he could do if others did not want to disclose any information. He contemplated for a moment and decided to move on to the next house.
The owner of the second house, a warm and hospitable, somewhat short elderly man, welcomed Yang Kai into the house.
Yang Kai repeated the same request he did not manage to finish earlier, and the elderly man looked at him with a smile while examining him up and down, “Where does little friend come from?”
Yang Kai shook his head and said, “My homeland is remote and unknown. I don’t even know what to call it.”
The old man continued to ask him, “Does little friend have a gift for this Old Master?”
Yang Kai blinked, almost thinking he must have heard wrongly, and asked surprisedly, “What did Old Sir say?”
The old man smiled and explained, “Little friend wants information, and this Old Master is willing to give it, but you can’t let this Old Master tell you in vain, can you? Some compensation is due, wouldn’t you say?”
Only then did Yang Kai understand that he was seeking some profit.
He indeed possessed quite a few treasures; the Azure Dragon Spear, Sealed World Bead, and numerous others. Even in the Outer Universe, such things would still be coveted by many people, but it was also impossible to give away these things, and his other possessions were of little value. Moreover, Yang Kai found it difficult to accept that payment was needed for just answering a few general questions.
Without another word, he gave a small smile, got up, and cupped his fists to leave.
The old man did not stop him.
After two failures, Yang Kai discarded any thoughts of asking others. In any case, he would get his answer after three days.
Back at his own residence, Yang Kai took out a Space Beacon and tried to reach out to Zhang Ruo Xi again, but to no avail. Resigning himself, he decided to settle down to adjust his breathing. Now that he had condensed the Wood Element, his next target was the Fire Element. It could be fate, or it could just be a coincidence, but he was incidentally brought to Seven Wonders Land’s Fire Spirit Land.
The catch was, he just did not know if there were suitable resources in Fire Spirit Land.
Unconsciously, a day has passed.
The loud crowing of a rooster announced that it was dawn. Yang Kai opened his eyes with a look of surprise.
He had not heard such a sound for many decades, because the rooster’s morning call was something that could only be heard in some ordinary commoner families. At first, he thought it was an illusion, but when he listened again, he confirmed it was indeed the sound of a rooster crowing.
Confused, Yang Kai walked down from his bedroom on the second floor, deactivated the barriers, pushed the door, and looked out.
It was dark outside, but it was notably lively. The Workers of Fire Spirit Land walked out of their houses, some in groups, some of them alone, and turned into streams of light rushing into the distance, disappearing somewhere unknown.
In the very centre of the village, a golden rooster as tall as a man’s waist hovered in mid-air, radiating golden rays like a small sun as it raised its head to crow again.
The crow came from this golden rooster.
Yang Kai looked at it in amazement.
He could sense that this golden rooster was a Monster Beast of a unique bloodline, and it seemed quite strong. Yang Kai wondered who raised it.
In just three crows, more than half of the village was emptied; at least hundreds of people had left.
Yang Kai found it intriguing, and thought to himself, [Do the Workers here need the rooster to wake them before they go out to work?] As he thought about it, the golden rooster turned to look at him. Although it was just a rooster, it had an arrogant look that made Yang Kai wonder if he should be laughing.
The next moment, the golden rooster flapped its wings and flew straight towards Yang Kai, and landed in front of him.
Yang Kai’s eyes met with its glaring eyes with surprise. He wondered what about himself had attracted this golden rooster.
However, it was his first time meeting this type of beast, so Yang Kai could not help feeling a little curious. He reached out and wanted to touch it, but just as he reached out, the golden rooster extended its neck and pecked with its sharp beak.
Yang Kai’s quick reflexes would not allow himself to be hit so easily, so he instantly withdrew his hand and chuckled, “You’re quite the hot-tempered one!”
“Oh oh oh…” The golden rooster was apparently offended and flapped its wings violently, every golden feather on its body standing on end.
“Stop crowing, there’s nothing to crow about!” Yang Kai glared at it.
The golden rooster was even more aggravated, and continued flapping its wings, which stirred up a violent wind. Its chubby figure jumped up and down in anger.
Yang Kai was flabbergasted, but seeing that the rooster was starting to cause a commotion, he stretched out his hand, grabbed its neck, and threatened with a low voice, “Stop crowing, or I will slaughter you for soup!”
It immediately fell silent, and the golden rooster’s eyes widened in disbelief.
Yang Kai looked at it up and down, and continued maliciously, “I’ve never seen a chicken like you before. The soup you make will surely be tasty.”
“And then you’ll be dead,” A coquettish voice floated towards him.
Yang Kai looked up and saw a graceful figure walking towards him. It was the woman who was talking to Zhou Zheng on the way over yesterday. He did not take a close look yesterday, but now he had the chance, the woman seemed to be in her early twenties and her demeanour was just as indolent as yesterday, her eyes seemingly perpetually sleepy, like she was severely overworked. She yawned as she walked over, but her little red lips were as alluring as ever.
Yang Kai smiled at her, “Is this your chicken?”
The woman covered her mouth and laughed lightly, “Don’t talk nonsense.” The exhausted beauty frowned lightly, “Let go of it now, nothing good will come out of it if someone sees you holding Ruler of the Dawn Great General.”
“Ruler of the Dawn Great General?” Astonished, Yang Kai looked down at the motionless golden rooster whose neck was still in his grip, [This chicken even has such an imposing name!]
The woman pressed on frustratedly, “Ruler of the Dawn is Venerable’s pet!”
“Ah…” Only then did Yang Kai understand that this golden rooster had a serious backer. In this Fire Spirit Land, Venerable was the Heavens and Earth, he held all the authority, so even his pet, which was just a golden rooster that crowed in the morning, should not be provoked.
With an awkward laugh, Yang Kai released his grip and the Ruler of the Dawn Great General immediately rushed and hid behind the woman, but its fat bottom was barely hidden at all. It stuck its head out from behind the woman and crowed at Yang Kai angrily.
Yang Kai naturally did not understand, but he could tell it was probably scolding him.
“It was just a little joke, don’t get so worked up,” Yang Kai shrugged.
Ruler of the Dawn Great General ignored him, and probably because it had someone to protect it now, its crows became increasingly fierce.
“Alright, alright, Great General, calm down, I’ll give you some treats.” The woman chuckled and flipped her little hand, summoning a fiery red, crystal-clear, worm. It looked like it was carved from fire jade, and although it was only about a palm’s length, it exuded a scorching aura.
The long worm was a living creature, but it was unable to move due to the restriction placed on it by the woman.
Ruler of the Dawn, who was angry at Yang Kai, saw the worm and immediately became energetic. It quickly stretched its neck, pecked the worm, and swallowed it with a look of satisfaction on its face.
The woman patted Ruler of the Dawn Great General’s head, and tidied up its golden feathers, chuckling, “The Jade Fire Silkworm is Great General’s favourite food. Bring some back if you ever encounter some.”
“Where can I find them?” Yang Kai asked.
“In the orchard. Although it’s hard to find, there are always some. Oh, I almost forgot, you’re new here so you don’t know anything about it.”
“Please enlighten me, Elder Sister,” It was rare to have such an opportunity, so naturally Yang Kai would not let it go to waste. This woman should be different from the other two people he asked yesterday. She looked notably warm-hearted; otherwise, she would not have warned him about Ruler of the Dawn Great General, “If Elder Sister is alright with it, please come in.”
“You want to talk inside?” The woman looked at Yang Kai teasingly with a meaningful expression on her face.
Yang Kai replied sternly, “I just arrived here and I don’t understand anything, I just want to ask Elder Sister to help clarify my doubts.”
“Okay, I’m bored anyway.” The woman nodded, then turned to the golden rooster, “Great General, go along now, I’ll talk to him.”
Ruler of the Dawn Great General responded by crowing a few times, and the woman covered her mouth as she laughed, “Okay, I’ll tell him.”
She turned to look at Yang Kai and explained, “Great General said he should be reporting you to Venerable for offending him today, so you can be punished severely to serve as a warning, but since you are a newcomer and are not aware of his status, the kind-hearted and generous Great General will not be harsh with you. But it is necessary to give you a small punishment, and the punishment is…”
She looked at Ruler of the Dawn Great General again, that crowed a few times again, and then continued, “To bring him five Jade Fire Silkworms within a month!”
Yang Kai expected it to be something much more difficult, but when he heard it was just to capture five Jade Fire Silkworms, he wanted to burst into laughter badly, but he still cupped his fists with a solemn face, “Many thanks for your magnanimity, Great General. I will definitely come back with five Jade Fire Silkworms for you.”
After receiving assurance and a sincere apology from Yang Kai, Ruler of the Dawn Great General departed proudly like a lord.
Yang Kai invited the woman into the house and offered her a seat.
There was nothing for him to serve her, but the woman did not seem to care about such pleasantries. As they introduced themselves, Yang Kai learnt that the woman’s name was Dié You.
After a short chat, Yang Kai went straight to the point, “Sister Dié You, may I know what the Workers in the Worker’s Room do every day?”
Dié You reclined on the chair lazily, her graceful curves outlined by her close-fitting clothes. And laughed lightly before replying, “What else can Workers do? Of course, it’s the work of Workers. To be specific, it’s to take care of the Fire Spirit Fruit Trees.”
“Where are the fruit trees?”
Dié You casually pointed in a direction, “There is an orchard over there. Everyone in the Worker’s Room works there.”
Yang Kai raised his eyebrows, “Is this Fire Spirit Fruit a material for refining Open Heaven Pills?”
Dié You glanced at him with a surprised look, “It seems that you’re not entirely clueless.”
Yang Kai explained, “Venerable mentioned a bit about it when we followed him back here.”
Dié You nodded, “You’re better off than me then. I was totally clueless when I first came here…” As if she was recalling something, a hint of reminisce flitted in her eyes, but she clearly did not want to talk more about it and thus changed the topic, “En. The Fire Spirit Fruit is indeed one of the herbs for refining Open Heaven Pills. In addition, there are six other Spirit Fruits, which are all planted in Seven Wonders Land.”
Yang Kai raised his brow at that, “In other words, the situation of the other six Spirit Lands is not far from that of Fire Spirit Land? They all have their own orchards and a Worker’s Room?”
“Yes!” Dié You nodded, “If not, how can there be so many materials for Heavenly Monarch to refine the Spirit Pills? Open Heaven Pills refined by Heavenly Monarch are the main industry of Seven Wonders Land.”
Yang Kai’s heart was pumping rapidly when he heard this. He did not expect to get in touch with all kinds of things related to Open Heaven Pills just when he arrived in the Outer Universe, and it was absolutely excellent for his plan to get the recipe for the Open Heavens Pill. Initially, he was a little unwilling to be a Worker, but now he was looking forward to it after learning that the work that he had to do was to take care of these Fire Spirit Fruit Trees.
He wondered what the Fire Spirit Fruit Trees looked like.
“If it’s convenient for Sister Dié You, can you tell me the details of taking care of the Fire Spirit Fruit Trees?”
Dié You raised her eyes and looked at him before grinning, “I didn’t think you would be so interested in such things that you would ask about it before you even started working.”
Yang Kai chuckled, “There’s no harm in being informed.”
Dié You grinned, “What’s in it for me?”
That sounded familiar…
Yang Kai looked at her, “What benefits do you want?” He patted his chest as he continued, “I have nothing but this body. If you are interested in it, how about I spend three days with you?”
Dié You covered her mouth and giggled, “Forget it.” Then she shrugged her shoulders, “But my shoulders have been a bit stiff lately.”
With a flicker, Yang Kai came behind her, put his hands on her shoulders and kneaded gently.
Dié You was extremely elated, “Little brat, you’re quite quick. Not bad, not bad.” While praising, she guided Yang Kai to massage with her preferred pressure.
Yang Kai followed her lead and quietly surged his strength, applying pressure through his fingertips. Dié You’s face immediately melted in pleasure as her eyelids closed slowly, her face looking sleepier and lazier.
After a long time, while her eyes remained closed, Dié You suddenly opened her mouth, “Taking care of Fire Spirit Fruit Trees requires a lot of attention. There are certain restrictions on how often to water, how much to water, how often to fertilize, how much to fertilize, how often to extract the Qi from the Earth Vein, and how to extract. No more, no less. As for the pests, you’ve seen the Jade Fire Silkworm before. Fire Spirit Fruit Trees are most prone to having such pests. However, in appropriate quantities, these pests have certain benefits on the maturation of Fire Spirit Fruits, so they can’t be eliminated completely. We need to keep a certain number to maintain a balance. It’s hard to explain in just a few words, you’ll only master them with more hands-on experience.”
Behind her, Yang Kai nodded furiously and sighed, “I didn’t expect there to be so many things to pay attention to in taking care of these fruit trees. How long has Sister Dié You been here?”
“What do you think?”
“No idea, but it seems that you have been here for some time.”
“A thousand years…” Dié You smiled wryly, “A thousand years ago, I first leapt out of my Universe World and was brought here, and here I’ve stayed for a thousand years.”
“That’s really a long time,” Yang Kai was aware that she had remained in this Worker’s Room for a thousand years. Although he had no idea what Dié You’s cultivation was a thousand years ago, by the look of her now, it seemed that her strength did not increase much.
“So, if you have a chance, you better leave this Worker’s Room, because this place has no future.”
“How does one leave?”
“If you do well and are appreciated by the superiors, you would have a chance to leave, but these opportunities are rare. Furthermore… You don’t need to consider this now, just try to learn the work first.” While talking, she raised her eyelids and glared at Yang Kai with her beautiful eyes.
Yang Kai chuckled, withdrew his hands slightly, back towards her shoulders, and continued to massage.
Dié You closed her eyelids again, and continued, “You’re new here, so Zhou Zheng will arrange a suitable place for you. Don’t fall for that smiling face he puts on all day, though. The truth is he is a ruthless and greedy man. You’ll understand in the future. Also, you must remember that the Spirit Fruits on each Fire Spirit Fruit Tree are recorded. If one goes bad, you must inform the supervisors immediately. Don’t ever think about stealing it for yourself, otherwise no one can protect you.”
Yang Kai nodded solemnly, “I will remember.” After pondering for a while, he asked, “Are we paid for our work?”
“Yes.”
“Really?” Yang Kai was surprised. He had only asked casually, but he did not expect such an answer.
Dié You sneered, “Three Open Heaven Pills every year.”
“Three…” Yang Kai blinked his eyes. He had never seen an Open Heaven Pill before, so he did not know how effective it was or what kind of significance three pills had, but judging from Dié You’s look, it should be a pitifully small number.
Yang Kai quickly asked without really calculating, “Elder Sister Dié You, haven’t you saved 3000 Open Heaven Pills then?”
“Who’s your Elder Sister?” Dié You was a little upset.
“Little Sister Dié You?”
“How old are you?” Dié You hissed.
Yang Kai stayed quiet.
Dié You sneered, “Forget it. Since you called me Elder Sister, this Elder Sister will take care of you in the future. If you have any questions, come and ask me when I’m free.”
“Many thanks, Elder Sister.”
“You’re a sweet talker.” Dié You curled her lip, “As Workers, we depart for work every day when the rooster crows, and we get three days of rest every month. There is a market in the middle of Seven Wonders Land, and there are many good things for sale there. When this Elder Sister is free, I will take you exploring.”
“En, call me at that time,” Yang Kai nodded.
After asking more questions about Seven Wonders Land and Fire Spirit Fruit Trees, only then did Dié You pat the back of Yang Kai’s hand, “Alright, that’s it for today. You are new here, so be careful in everything you do. Don’t get into trouble.”
“Noted,” Yang Kai withdrew his hands.
“I’m off to have a rest. I’m so tired!” Dié You did not even look back. She just waved her hand, pushed the door out, and her slender and lithe body swayed with her footsteps.
Someone came in just after Dié You departed, staring at Dié You’s back with interest.
Yang Kai smiled, “What’s up, Sister Ah Sun?”
“Do you know that person?” Ah Sun was curious.
“We just met.”
Ah Sun revealed a suspicious look, “How can you two talk for so long when you two just met…”
Finding it funny and embarrassing at the same time, Yang Kai questioned, “Young Lady, were you watching me?”
“No, I just found out some information. Since we came here together, I just wanted to inform you about it.”
Yang Kai snapped his fingers, “I happen to know something too.”
Hearing this, Ah Sun’s eyes brightened, “Shall we exchange information?”
“Sure!”
…
Three days flew by, and during these three days, Yang Kai did not stay idle in the house all the time; instead, he went out for a walk. However, there was nothing special in the village where the Workers lived, and nothing great was discovered after wandering around. Initially, he wanted to visit the orchard, but when he arrived at the place, he found that it was enveloped with a barrier, and he could not enter without a token, so he could only give up his plan.
Yang Kai met many people from different Universe Worlds, but he didn’t get close to any of them yet, much less build a close friendships with them.
Every time Ah Sun acquired some information, however, she would come and share it with Yang Kai. She was actually quite kind-hearted. Nevertheless, the other people who came with them shut themselves in their own houses, it was uncertain what they were afraid of.
In the early morning of the third day, as the Golden Rooster announced the break of dawn, Yang Kai pushed his door out.
Numerous figures outside the house turned into all kinds of streams of light, rushing towards the orchard. Yang Kai also hurried to keep up, but before he flew too far, Ah Sun called him from behind.
Yang Kai slowed down a little and kept pace with her when she caught up, chatting along the way. It could be seen that Ah Sun was a little nervous. Perhaps because of going to a new environment, this little girl’s mood was a bit affected.
Yang Kai casually said a few comforting words to her.
In about half an hour, they finally arrived at their destination.
Several figures were waiting outside the light barrier. Other than Zhou Zheng, the Manager of the Worker’s Room, the remaining people were Yang Kai and all the other newcomers who were brought here together by the Venerable.
Seeing that Yang Kai and Ah Sun were late, Zhou Zheng was a little annoyed and warned them, “Be punctual next time.”
Yang Kai and Ah Sun nodded repeatedly.
As soon as Zhou Zheng turned around and waved the token in his hand, the barrier opened up a gap, and the group of people immediately rushed in. As soon as they entered the orchard, a scorching hot aura surged towards their faces. The world was filled with strong Fire Energy, which was so scorching hot that everyone could not help pushing their strength to resist it.
A sudden realization dawned on Yang Kai. Previously, he wondered why an ordinary land like this was called Fire Spirit Land. Now that he stepped into the orchard, he understood that this place was named as such because of the particular environment of the orchard. It was indeed matching the name of Fire Spirit Land.
However, the scorching heat was a little too severe, and the discomfort could only be resisted by exerting some power. No wonder the people in the Worker’s Room would hide inside their houses every time they came back to rest. Yang Kai initially thought that they were just cold, but it was not the case; they were just too tired from working in the orchard, and they really needed to rest and recuperate.
Because the few newcomers knew nothing about the orchard, Zhou Zheng guided everyone. First, he explained the details of caring for the Fire Spirit Fruit Trees, which Yang Kai was provided by Dié You previously, and the information was more or less the same and actually even more detailed than Zhou Zheng’s.
Judging from the doubtless expressions of the other people, it was obvious that they had all gathered this information beforehand.
Zhou Zheng even brought them around to observe and emulate how some other people took care of the fruit trees, even pointing out some details that needed attention.
After wandering around for a long time, Zhou Zheng led the few people into the depths of the orchard and assigned them to different places.
Yang Kai was allocated three acres of land, which was planted with a total of thirty Fire Spirit Fruit Trees. Before leaving, Zhou Zheng handed him an Access Token and left Yang Kai instructions to take good care of it, then continued to lead the others away.
Standing in the middle of the small orchard plot, Yang Kai took a deep breath which scalded his stomach and lungs, but also filled him with energy. He was going to live here for a month. It was never fun to work for others, but what piqued Yang Kai’s interest was the Fire Spirit Fruit Trees themselves.
If he had an opportunity, he could take one into his own medicine garden, and it would certainly bring him a lot of convenience when refining Open Heaven Pills in the future.
Each fruit tree had a fluffy crown, and red fist-sized fruits hung all over the branches of each of these ten-meter-tall trees. Yang Kai circled around his allocated three acres of land with his hands behind his back.
Dié You mentioned that every Spirit Fruit in the orchard was recorded precisely, and even missing one would be a big deal. Naturally, he had to keep count carefully.
It only took a short while to finish the job, and the number was consistent with what was recorded in the token. Yang Kai stood under a fruit tree, and glanced left and right to make sure that there was no one around, before stretching out his hand and pulling a branch towards him. There were three Fire Spirit Fruits hanging on the branch. He took a sniff and the invigorating scent rushed to his mind, immediately sending a shock to his senses.
[So this is how a Fire Spirit Fruit smells… I wonder what it would taste like,] Yang Kai smacked his lips, suddenly feeling a little hungry.
However, according to Dié You, it would take several dozen years for a Fire Spirit Fruit to ripen, and these fruits in front of him looked like they were still a little short, which meant that it would be a few years yet.
Due to his unfamiliarity with the task, Yang Kai was only allocated three acres of land. Other elderly Workers had at least several dozen or hundreds of acres of land, or even more.
There were at least a thousand people living in the Worker’s Room in the entire Fire Spirit Land, so with some calculation, the estimated area of this orchard was clearly quite extensive.
And that was just Fire Spirit Land. Seven Wonders Land also had six other Spirit Lands.
Gently loosening the branch in his hand, Yang Kai sat cross-legged under the fruit tree, holding the Jade Token Zhou Zheng handed over to him, refining it silently.
This Jade Token was the key to taking care of the fruit trees. There were various Arrays in the Fire Spirit Fruit orchard, and these Spirit Arrays were controlled by this token. Nothing could be done without it.
One even needed to use the token to enter or leave the orchard.
To the Workers of Seven Wonders Land, this token was more valuable than their lives. Once lost, the consequences would be disastrous.
While he was refining the token, he suddenly heard the sound of rustling footsteps. Yang Kai opened his eyes to look, surprised by the arrival of the visitor, “It’s you!”
The newcomer too, widened his eyes, and looked around in amazement, “Is this piece of land assigned to you?”
“En,” Yang Kai nodded, got up and smiled, “Why are you here?”
The person turned around and pointed with a laugh, “My land is beside yours.”
Yang Kai laughed too, “What a coincidence. We are neighbours in the Worker’s Room, and we are also neighbours here. It’s fate, Old Sir.”
The visitor was none other than the old man who stayed one house away from Yang Kai. He was the one who asked for rewards when Yang Kai wanted to inquire about information from him previously. Yang Kai ignored him and left, and they did not talk to each other for the next few days. Who knew that their orchard plots would actually be next to each other too?
The old man looked up and down at Yang Kai, his expression a little weird, and then he shook his head and sighed.
Yang Kai asked with a scowl, “What does Old Sir mean?”
“By the looks of it, you still don’t know what’s going on, but you’re facing imminent disaster!” The old man pointed at Yang Kai with a heartbroken expression.
Yang Kai laughed angrily, “Old Sir, you and I have only met once before, and we don’t know each other that well, yet today you came here to my site and make such an alarming statement. Does Old Sir think I’m an easy target to be bullied just because I am new here? Or have I offended you in some way?”
The old man shook his head, “You didn’t offend me. Even if you offended this Old Master, what can this Old Master do to you? Everyone is a Worker in the Worker’s Room, and no one is better than anyone, right?” He sighed again, “You didn’t offend this Old Master, but have you offended someone else?”
Yang Kai was speechless, “I’ve only been here for three days, who can I offend?”
The old man wondered, “Then why were you assigned to this land? Out of so many places in the orchard, why this land plot?”
Yang Kai frowned, “Is there anything wrong with this land?”
“There’s something wrong, something very wrong!” The old man remained in his position with his hands folded behind his back. He looked left and right, then lowered his voice, “To tell you the truth, the Worker for this piece of land has been replaced three times in the past ten years, you are the fourth person.”
Yang Kai frowned, “Why did they change people?”
“The trees died!” The old man pointed in a certain direction, “Haven’t you seen it? A few fruit trees over there are newly planted seedlings.”
Yang Kai nodded in agreement, “I have. There are indeed a few new seedlings over there.”
Yang Kai noticed that during the inspection before that three Fire Spirit Fruit Trees were obviously different from the others. It seemed that they had just been planted a few years ago. Based on the old man’s statement, he understood that the fruit trees before had died.
The old man laughed, “As Workers, losing a single fruit is already a big deal, not to mention the occurrence of a dead tree. All of these happened within the past ten years.”
Yang Kai was startled, “What was the punishment for the three people before?”
The old man shook his head, “I don’t know, I haven’t seen them since the fruit trees died.”
Yang Kai’s face suddenly darkened, “Do you know what caused the fruit trees to die?”
“How would I know that? Although my plot is nearby, this place is not under my management. If you want to know the reason, you have to work hard to investigate, and you have to be fast, otherwise, you might just follow in the footsteps of the previous three.” After speaking, the old man shook his head in a sigh, and cried out as he walked away, “Fate!”
As he watched the old man leave, Yang Kai had lost all intentions of refining the Jade Token. Zhou Zheng’s figure flashed across his mind, and he gritted his teeth and cursed.
He suddenly recalled Ah Sun asking him if he wanted to send Zhou Zheng a gift when she visited him last night; after all, he was the Manager of the orchard, and Yang Kai would be working as his subordinate. A gift would help to form a good relationship, and she even mentioned that several others from their group seemed to have done the same.
Yang Kai did not take it to heart at the time, and Ah Sun did not insist.
Now it seemed that sending a gift was not a bad idea, after all, at least this particular plot had not fallen to the other newcomers.
He thought of Dié You’s evaluation of Zhou Zheng again and had a sudden realization. It indeed was necessary to guard against others. Yang Kai had only met Zhou Zheng twice, and there was no conflict between them, yet this terrifying piece of land was assigned to him.
Although the old man did not say what happened to the three previous owners of this plot, since the fruit trees died, there was no doubt about what happened to them.
It was probably too late to go to Zhou Zheng now, and the only way out was to save himself.
At the very least, it was necessary to find out why the fruit trees were dying in order to find a solution.
Thinking of this, Yang Kai sat down cross-legged again and continued refining the Jade Token. Only after refining Jade Token could he connect with the orchard’s Grand Array to find out everything about his small plot.
The token was not difficult to refine fortunately and half a day later Yang Kai was finished. He wanted to try to care for the fruit trees by watering, fertilizing, and providing World Energy for them, but was afraid that he might not do it correctly, so he simply got up and headed out.
After a short while, he came to a thatched hut. Yang Kai raised his hand and knocked on the door.
The door opened, and the old man who had gone to Yang Kai before looked at him with a stunned expression, “Is there something wrong, Little Brother?”
Yang Kai cupped his fists and expressed, “I have come to ask Old Sir for guidance on caring for the fruit trees. This is my first time and it’s never bad to be careful. I’m afraid that something will happen. It would be better if Old Sir could teach me carefully.”
The old man said, “I can, but what benefit could this Old Master get?”
“None!” Yang Kai shook his head.
The old man laughed, “Why would this Old Master do something that won’t benefit him? The warning earlier was already a kind gesture from this Old Master. Don’t take it for granted! Do leave.” He waved his hand continuously.
Yang Kai grinned, “There’s no benefit to guiding me, but it’s definitely bad to not guide me.”
The smile on the old man’s face suddenly disappeared, “Little Brother, are you threatening this Old Master? After living for so many years, this Old Master is not afraid.”
Yang Kai shrugged, “Then it’s up to Old Sir. If any tree dies on my small plot, I will come here first and destroy one of Old Sir’s trees, if two of mine die, I will destroy two trees, three for three… In any case, if something happens, the consequences will be disastrous, so it would be good to have someone to accompany me in my fate.”
Yang Kai turned around and left as soon as he finished!
“Stop!” The old man yelled.
Yang Kai turned around and looked at the old man with a smile, “Old Sir, what else can I do for you?”
“You, you…” The old man pointed at Yang Kai, his beard shaking with anger, “I have never met someone as unreasonable and shameless as you! You really irritate this Old Master!”
Yang Kai replied with a snicker, “Life is hard, and I have no choice!”
The old man was gloomy, “Since you also know that life is hard, why do you have to make it difficult for this Old Master?”
Yang Kai turned his head to look around and stretched out his hand to draw a big circle, “Sir, even if it’s not eighty acres of land here, I believe there should be at least sixty, yes?”
Without knowing Yang Kai’s intention in the sudden change of topic, the old man dared not to answer rashly, but just looked at him with a wary face.
“If you can easily take care of sixty acres of land, it doesn’t matter if there are an additional three, right? It must be a simple matter for Old Sir. If Old Sir refuses to help me with this simple matter, don’t blame me if anything happens in the future.”
The old man glared at him, “Do you want this Old Master to take care of your three acres of land too?”
Yang Kai grinned, “Of course not. As long as Old Sir can take some time out to teach me, I won’t bother you again in the future.” After a pause, he pressed on, “Don’t worry, I’m a quick study. I will probably master it within a few days.”
The old man looked helpless, “This Old Master is fine with teaching you, but remember what you promised. If you dare to cause trouble again in the future, don’t blame this Old Master for being impolite!”
“I wouldn’t dare!”
The old man puffed with rage for a while before finally waving his arm wildly, “Let’s go.”
“No rush, no rush…” Yang Kai hurried up to support him.
The old man swung his sleeves and snorted coldly, “Enough with your false pleasantries! If this Old Master knew you were such a cunning brat, he would not have warned you out of kindness!”
Yang Kai chuckled, “Old Sir, you said it yourself, how can someone as kind as you let this Junior suffer without at least warning him? Good advice doesn’t cost you anything anyway.”
Yang Kai walked together with the old man, smiling, and soon they returned to the three acres plot.
Although the old man was coerced into helping Yang Kai, since he had given his word, he did his job seriously. Of course, this was mainly because he was afraid of Yang Kai’s delinquent attitude. If a tree died on Yang Kai’s small plot one day, he might really come to sabotage his own territory.
For his own sake, the old man taught Yang Kai diligently.
Standing in front of a Fire Spirit Fruit Tree, the old man solemnly began, “Although we are mere Workers here in Fire Spirit Land, a Worker’s job is not easy at all. There are a lot of techniques and skills involved, especially in taking care of these fruit trees. It’s hard to master all kinds of details without immersing yourself in the job for three to five years, or even more. Let me tell you first, I will only teach you for one month. It’s your own business on how much you can absorb in that time. Don’t bother me again after that.”
“En!” Yang Kai nodded seriously.
The old man sneered. Obviously, he thought that Yang Kai had overestimated himself; however, he was glad that Yang Kai had agreed. And so, he pointed to the fruit tree in front and asked, “Look for yourself. What does this fruit tree require?”
Focused, Yang Kai examined it up and down with his Divine Sense, but after a long while, he replied, “No idea!”
The old man continued patiently, “Put your hand on it and feel it carefully.”
Yang Kai followed the instruction and placed his hand on the trunk. After a moment, he questioned with his head tilted, “Does this fruit tree need to be fertilized?”
The old man rolled his eyes, “This is a healthy fruit tree. You don’t need to do anything.”
Yang Kai was infuriated, “Since it’s healthy, why do you still ask me what it needs?”
The old man stroked his beard with a look of deep wisdom, “This Old Master just wants you to remember what the state of healthy fruit trees is. Based on this, you will know what to do compared to other fruit trees.”
Yang Kai pondered for a while and had to admit that his words were somewhat reasonable. Although the old man clearly intended to mess with him, Yang Kai could only endure it, taking it as a payback for scamming him just now.
“I’ll remember.” Yang Kai nodded.
“Then let’s move on!” The old man beckoned.
A short while later, they came to another fruit tree, and after examining it for a long time, Yang Kai came up with an uncertain deduction, “Compared to the fruit tree earlier, this one seems slightly parched, so it needs watering?”
The old man glanced at him and nodded, “En.”
Yang Kai grinned, “Old Sir teaches well. En, so about how to water it… let me see the instructions.” He took out his own token, surging his Divine Sense to connect to the Grand Array in the orchard. Without any strong effort, a cloud soon gathered on top of the fruit tree.
“That’s not enough, keep going!” The old man shouted, “This place is rich in Fire Element Power and the environment is hot. If you gather too little Spirit Water, it will evaporate directly and become useless.”
Without further prompting, Yang Kai increased his power and gathered a larger and richer cloud above the fruit tree.
“Better,” The old man nodded.
Hearing this, Yang Kai immediately stretched out his hand and pointed. The cloud immediately enveloped the fruit tree, and it obviously became much more hydrated than before.
Yang Kai asked eagerly, “How is it?”
“So-so.” Of course, the old man would never praise him and continued to lead him forward.
Taking care of the fruit trees was meticulous and difficult work, especially for newcomers like Yang Kai. A tiny mistake may cause disaster. While checking the fruit trees, he watered, fertilized, and extracted World Energy accordingly.
The three seedlings were the top priority, and were the toughest to take care of; however, under the guidance of the old man, Yang Kai did a fair job. Seeing him like this, the old man seemed to be quite satisfied, and even his manner eased slightly.
Soon, Yang Kai finished working on his thirty fruit trees, but it was not enough for him. It was not because he was fond of this kind of work, but rather because he was planning for the future when he would begin refining Open Heaven Pills. As an Alchemist, one could not refine a pill well without understanding the characteristics of its ingredients.
Working hard to care for the Fire Spirit Fruit Trees today laid a solid foundation for the Alchemy he would perform in the future; therefore, Yang Kai was quite enthusiastic about it.
“Come on, let’s go to your side.” Yang Kai beckoned.
The old man raised a brow and asked, “What are we going to this Old Master’s side for?”
Yang Kai rubbed his hands in excitement, “So I can help Old Sir take care of his fruit trees!”
The old man was appalled, “It’s alright! Many thanks for your good intentions Little Brot…”
“Enough nonsense! Let’s go!” Yang Kai did not wait for him to finish talking and dragged him towards his own plot directly.
Begrudgingly, the old man followed Yang Kai with a worried face. Yang Kai shuttled through the old man’s several tens of acres, honing his own skills. Whenever he made any mistake, the old man would tremble with rage…
“Old Sir, this tree is infested. Is it a Jade Fire Silkworm?” Yang Kai suddenly peeped into a hole on the tree trunk. Seeing the hole, he instantly remembered that he had promised Ruler of the Dawn Great General five Jade Fire Silkworms.
“Is there a worm in it?” The old man suddenly became interested and pushed Yang Kai aside before continuing eagerly, “Let me see, let me see…” He checked the small hole and beamed, “There really is one!”
Head tilted, Yang Kai looked at him with a frown, “Why are you so happy?”
“You know nothing,” The old man was too busy to explain to Yang Kai as he took out a green box, and drew an incense fragment out of it. He lit the incense and gently waved it in front of the wormhole.
Looking at his posture, he should be attempting to lure the worm out. He was even well-prepared with the special tools. This was certainly not his first time doing this given his skilful action. A burning scent followed after igniting the incense. Yang Kai had no idea what material it was made of, but it was extremely strange.
Yang Kai had many questions, but he was afraid of disturbing the old man, so he simply held his tongue and observed quietly.
Given that the old man cared so much about this Jade Fire Silkworm after being here for many years, there must be some important reason for it. Moreover, Dié You mentioned before that if he ever caught a Jade Fire Silkworm in the orchard, he needed to keep it, so it must be of some value.
Needless to say, the old man was skilled at catching these worms. Just after burning the incense for a short while, a small scarlet head popped out of the wormhole. Yang Kai saw the Jade Fire Silkworm too, and he immediately recognized that it was the same worm Dié You fed Ruler of the Dawn Great General before.
After all, the Jade Fire Silkworm was only a worm. It was baited by the scent of the incense to crawl out of the wormhole, and was immediately captured by the old man into the box.
The old man extinguished the incense and smiled delightfully at the box in his hands.
Only then did Yang Kai question, “Old Sir, what’s the use of this Jade Fire Silkworm?”
The old man glanced sideways at him, and shook his head, “I can’t tell you…”
“Do you think I won’t uproot your tree!?” Yang Kai grabbed the Fire Spirit Fruit Tree in front of him.
“You…” The old man’s air of superiority was immediately snuffed out when he saw Yang Kai’s big hand grab the tree, “Let go first.”
“I’ll let go when you explain to me.”
“Alright, alright!”
He waited for Yang Kai to withdraw his hand before he began to explain, “This worm is useless to us, but do you know Ruler of the Dawn Great General? Jade Fire Silkworms are his favourite food.”
“I know, so what? Is a chicken worth your flattery?” Yang Kai looked at the old man with disdain.
The old man shook his head, “Ruler of the Dawn Great General is not an ordinary chicken, he is Venerable’s pet. In this Fire Spirit Land, he stands at the highest position other than Venerable.”
“So what? Will it speak good words for you if you feed it? Can it help you to get rid of your status as a Worker?”
“Of course not…” The old man chuckled, “But it’s always wise to have a good relationship with the Ruler of the Dawn Great General.”
“That’s all?” Yang Kai looked at him suspiciously.
“What else can it be?”
Yang Kai looked at him seriously for a while, and then he grabbed the Fire Spirit Fruit Tree again, “Do you really think I won’t uproot your tree!?”
“Stop, stop!” The old man shouted loudly, his beard trembling violently. Yang Kai was unmoved, however, and gradually increased the strength of his grip.
“Good, you win!” The old man wanted so badly to slap Yang Kai to death, but with a hostage at stake, he resisted the urge and explained, “Great General has Open Heaven Pills, and if he is in a good mood, he may give you one. Why else do you think we catch these worms?”
“That damn chicken has Open Heaven Pills?” Yang Kai could not believe what he just heard.
“Can you keep your voice down?” The old man looked around and continued, “Great General is not an ordinary chicken. If anyone hears you defaming him, you will not end well!”
“Fine, fine, I’ll be quiet…” Yang Kai accepted the old man’s advice and immediately lowered his voice with a sinister look on his face, “Has anyone ever gotten Open Heaven Pills from that dam… from Great General?”
Yang Kai asked because last time, when Dié You fed the chicken, he did not give her any Open Heaven Pills.
“Otherwise, why do you think this Old Master is willing to work so hard on catching worms?” The old man continued disdainfully.
Yang Kai rubbed his chin, “No wonder!”
As a Worker, one would receive three Open Heaven Pills every year. Although Yang Kai did not know how significant these three Open Heaven Pills were, he could infer from Dié You’s tone and attitude before that it was a rather insignificant amount.
Now he learned he could get Open Heaven Pills easily if he could please the Ruler of the Dawn Great General. Who would not pursue such a good thing? No wonder the old man was so happy to hear that there were worms on the tree just now.
Yang Kai’s eyes could not help following the worm squirming in the box in the old man’s hand.
“What are you planning to do?” The old man covered his treasure box, his beard flapping as he stared at Yang Kai, mainly because he had been threatened too many times by this bandit today. He already knew that the young man in front of him was nothing good. He could guess what Yang Kai was up to with just a look on his face.
“Old Sir…” Yang Kai reached out his hand and patted the old man on the shoulder, “There’s something you don’t know, I promised Ruler of the Dawn Great General two days ago that I would catch five Jade Fire Silkworms for him within a month, but you already know the situation of my land, there are thirty fruit trees in total, how can I get that many worms…”
“Scram!”
“If you don’t want to give me the worms, you could at least give me a set of worm-catching tools. That incense seems to be somewhat useful, and this box seems to be specially made too.”
The old man was silent, which confirmed Yang Kai’s guess.
“Old Sir, you don’t want me to haunt you day and night about this, do you?”
The old man sneered, “Do you really think you really can threaten this Old Master?”
Yang Kai quickly responded, “I wouldn’t dare. You are a respected Senior and I’m nothing but a newcomer, how could I be so daring as to be rude to you? But I really don’t have any tools to capture worms, and I don’t know where to acquire them. We’re all in a foreign land, so we should help each other, no?”
The old man’s face remained dark and unmoved.
Yang Kai continued, “It’s not a big deal, I’ll just buy a new set and return it to you in the future. Is that good enough for you?”
“I only have this set! I don’t have any extra, so I can’t give it to you even if I wanted to,” The old man’s expression softened a little.
“Then let me borrow it first…” Yang Kai snickered and pointed at the box in his hand, “Lend me that worm too. I’ll give you any Open Heaven Pills if I get them.”
The old man was moved, “Really?”
Yang Kai put his arm around the old man’s shoulders affectionately, “We are neighbours, and we’ll see each other regularly as we work together in the future. What’s the benefit of me lying to you? It’s because I made a promise to the Ruler of the Dawn Great General, and I’ll be in trouble if I can’t complete the task within a month.”
“Seems you’re at least a bit sincere…” The old man pondered for a while, “If that’s the case, this Old Master can lend you this.”
Yang Kai quickly noted, “I should mention this, I can’t guarantee that the Ruler of the Dawn Great General will give me any Open Heaven Pills.”
“Naturally.” The old man nodded, “I also want to remind you that it is difficult to even catch five Jade Fire Silkworms within a month. We might not get that number even if we combined the worms of both our orchards.”
“Even five is difficult?” Yang Kai was stunned.
“There are not many Jade Fire Silkworms to begin with, and we also need to leave some behind to help nurture the Fire Spirit Fruit Trees, so we can’t capture them all.”
Yang Kai chuckled, “We just have to work hard together for one month. When the time comes, I will be able to complete the task and the Open Heaven Pills will be yours when we are rewarded by the Ruler of the Dawn Great General.”
“Deal!”
Yang Kai reached to grab the box, and the old man did not refuse this time, and the box went directly into his hand.
Yang Kai extended his hand again, “The incense.”
The old man handed over the incense fragments.
Yang Kai asked while examining the object, “Where did you get this thing? I’ll have to prepare a set for myself in the future.”
The old man replied, “You’re new, so of course you wouldn’t know. You can buy it at the shopping district when we go back.”
Yang Kai nodded. Dié You did mention that she would take him to the shopping district in the future. It looked like this trip to the shopping district was a must.
Yang Kai became much more enthusiastic when he received the new tools. He checked the trees one by one, searching for Jade Fire Silkworms, but as the old man said, there were not many, and some needed to be left behind.
He did not manage to find any worms that day, but Yang Kai had now gotten a hang of caring for the fruit trees.
The days went by smoothly as Yang Kai worked hard in his little plot of land as well as the old man’s under the latter’s guidance. In their free time, the two of them would play games together.
The old man was excellent at chess and defeated Yang Kai many times, but Yang Kai was not discouraged. Since he was not able to cultivate for the time being, it was a good way to kill some time.
After getting along for more than ten days, their relationship had become a little more cordial.
On the stone table next to a thatched hut under a fruit tree, black and white chess pieces were deployed in formation. Yang Kai sat on the stone bench, staring right in front of him dauntlessly, “Old Fang, it’s your turn.”
After more than ten days of getting along, Yang Kai learned that the old man’s surname was Fang, but he did not know his full name. The old man did not disclose it, and he did not seem to mind when Yang Kai repeatedly addressed him as Old Fang either.
On the opposite side, Old Fang smiled when he heard the words, picked up a chess piece, and taunted, “Smelly brat, you play chess too aggressively. Your killing intent is too strong!”
He placed the chess piece down, and the encirclement that Yang Kai had worked so hard to set up fell apart in an instant, allowing the black dragon to open up a bloody path.
Yang Kai could not help gaping.
Just when he was thinking hard, he heard a pop, and a figure appeared next to him.
Old Fang immediately got up and saluted respectfully, “Manager Zhou!”
The visitor was Zhou Zheng.
Yang Kai also stood up and cupped his fists, “Greetings, Manager Zhou.”
Zhou Zheng glanced at the two of them, and frowned, “What are you doing here when you’re supposed to be tending the fruit trees?”
Yang Kai replied, “I have already taken care of them. I have nothing to do, so I came to spend some time with Old Fang.”
“You’re done taking care of them?” Zhou Zheng smiled, “How can you be so confident as a newcomer?”
Yang Kai explained, “Although I am a newcomer, I have benefited a lot from Old Fang’s teachings, and already learned how to take care of the fruit trees. If Manager Zhou is doubtful, I can accompany you to inspect them.”
“There’s no need. This Manager is in charge of the entire orchard, and I don’t have the time to investigate each and every plot of land, but I want to remind you that a few fruit trees have died in your land over the past few years. You’d better pay more attention. If something goes wrong, no one can protect you!”
“Many thanks for Manager Zhou’s reminder!” Yang Kai sounded grateful, but in fact, he was disgusted. Why did he not inform Yang Kai at the beginning when he was assigned to such a piece of land? However, Zhou Zheng’s seemingly kind expression did not allow him an opportunity to complain about it. Furthermore, Zhou Zheng was the Manager of the orchard, and he was only a Worker. It would only put him at a disadvantage if he really started a conflict with him.
Zhou Zheng nodded and continued, “Be more diligent in your work. The Fire Spirit Fruit will mature in three years. It will benefit us a lot if we can complete the tasks assigned by Venerable.” He pointed at the chessboard, “You better not do such activities anymore, if the Chief Manager calls for an inspection and sees it, you will be in deep trouble.”
“Yes!” Old Fang nodded respectfully.
Without another word, Zhou Zheng took off into the sky. It seemed that he was going to visit other places.
When he was far away, Old Fang finally sighed, “Get an opportunity to send something over to him. It seems that you really offended him.”
Yang Kai wondered, “Why do you say so?”
Old Fang explained, “This is not the first time he has seen me play chess with others, but he has never said anything about it before, only today. Why do you think he did that?”
Yang Kai found it funny and infuriating at the same time, “I’m a newcomer, what do I have to give him? This person is really too petty,e” He wondered what happened to Ah Sun as she probably did not send him anything either.
Old Fang pointed at him and lectured, “Smelly brat, if you want to live a good life, you can’t be stingy, you know? We are his subordinates after all.”
Yang Kai did not want to continue the topic, so he changed the subject and asked, “He mentioned a Chief Manager, who is that?”
“The orchard in each Spirit Land has a Manager just like him, but there is also a Chief Manager above them, who reports directly to Heavenly Monarch. The Chief Manager is Heavenly Monarch’s right-hand man, so even Venerables have to pay him respect.”
Yang Kai nodded in acknowledgement.
“By the way, what’s wrong with your land, have you found anything yet?” Old Fang asked again.
“There’s no problem!” Yang Kai frowned, “I have checked the entire land inside and out more than ten times, but there’s nothing wrong with it! You can see how healthy the fruit trees are now. If there is a problem, the fruit trees would be the first to react to it.”
Old Fang sighed, “Actually, Manager Zhou also checked the place himself, but he found nothing, yet still the trees died somehow. You better pray for yourself.”
“Let’s not talk about this, what matters now is the five Jade Fire Silkworms. What do you think will happen if I fail to fulfil the requirements of Ruler of the Dawn Great General?”
“It certainly won’t be good.”
“Could he have forgotten about it? After all, he’s just a chicken!”
“Great General may forget other things, but he certainly won’t forget about Jade Fire Silkworms.”
“That’s troublesome…” Yang Kai frowned.
Since he caught the first Jade Fire Silkworm that day, he had not found a second one. Although Old Fang’s fruit trees did have Jade Fire Silkworms, they couldn’t be removed. Old Fang told him that a number of worms must be left behind as if all were caught, it would definitely have an undesired impact on the fruit trees, and a matter that affected the fruit trees was a matter of life or death to Workers.
Yang Kai believed that if he insisted on capturing the worms, Old Fang would go all out with him.
His eyes flickered, and Yang Kai immediately lowered his voice, “Do you think I can go to someone else’s orchard to search for the worms…”
Old Fang smiled wryly, “No one in their right mind would agree with you doing that.”
Yang Kai patted him on the shoulder, “So Old Fang, I’m counting on you to help.”
Old Fang exclaimed, “What can I do to help?”
Yang Kai bent his fingers and motioned for the old man to lean over, and whispered for a while.
Old Fang’s face became increasingly darker, and before Yang Kai could finish speaking, he burst out, “Scram! I can’t believe you could come up with such a terrible idea! If we get caught, both you and I will be finished!”
“Don’t exaggerate things,” Yang Kai was stunned, “I just want you to help me distract them.”
“Be careful. Don’t be too eager for quick success. Jade Fire Silkworms are timid and are easily scared away. If you let it run away, you will never catch it again,” In front of a fruit tree, Old Fang sent Yang Kai a Divine Sense transmission quietly while monitoring his movements nervously.
Yang Kai held a box in one hand and a burning incense in the other. His expression was solemn, as if he was having a life-and-death battle with someone. Upon receiving the transmission, he replied impatiently, “I know. You’ve said it many times. Can you not just relax?”
Old Fang smacked his lips and kept his silence.
The scent of the incense permeated the air, and a small scarlet head slowly emerged from the hole in the tree, attracted by the scent.
When half of its body was out of the tree, Yang Kai swung his other hand, directly sending the long worm into the box, then slammed it shut with a laugh, “It’s done!”
Old Fang looked sideways at him, “This is only the second worm. Why are you so happy? Don’t forget, you promised to catch five for Great General!”
Yang Kai’s laughter stopped abruptly, the corner of his mouth twitching, “What should I do?”
Old Fang sneered, “How should this Old Master know? There’s not much time left.”
“It’s already been a month?” Yang Kai was stunned.
As he was talking, a bell rang all of a sudden. Without waiting for Yang Kai to question, Old Fang announced, “We can leave now. The next three days are our break time.”
“Don’t go!” Yang Kai grabbed him, and continued surreptitiously, “Let’s wait for a while. Once the others leave…”
Before he could finish, however, he suddenly felt a strong and irresistible repulsion around him. A flash of light blurred his vision, and he was already outside the orchard when he regained his senses.
Yang Kai was dumbstruck.
Perhaps it was because he held on to Old Fang, so he found himself next to him.
“As soon as the time’s up, no one can stay inside. You better pray hard for yourself.” Old Fang explained.
When he finished, he turned around and rushed towards the Worker’s Room.
Yang Kai scratched his head and watched the others depart in streams of light. He had no choice but to keep up with them. Although the past month as a Worker had been safe and sound, he failed to fulfil his promise to the Ruler of the Dawn Great General regarding the five Jade Fire Silkworms. In fact, he only had two right now.
He had no idea how the golden rooster would react when he found out.
However, it was useless to think too much at this point, so Yang Kai could only move forward and solve things as they came up.
In the orchard, he had to circulate his strength to resist the scorching heat at all times, so it was truly hectic for him, though he believed that it was just as exhausting for the others. When Yang Kai returned to the village where the Worker’s Rooms were, he saw that every door was closed. Everyone was probably resting inside.
Returning to his own residence, he opened the barrier, sat cross-legged and adjusted his breathing, meditating for the whole night.
In the early morning of the next day, the golden rooster announced the breaking of dawn so loudly that even the barrier could not block out the sound. Knowing that he had three days off, Yang Kai did not bother to pay attention to it.
Beyond his expectation, a knock on the door came up a moment later, and continued without pause.
“Who is it?” Yang Kai opened his eyes and shouted.
There was no response outside the door, but the knock persisted in a steady rhythm.
He had no choice but to get up, and when he opened the door, he was dazzled by a burst of golden light. A half-man tall golden rooster stood as majestic as a statue outside the door
Their eyes stared into each other for a while, then Yang Kai closed the door with a slam.
After three breaths of time, the door was hammered viciously as if a volcano erupted. Not only that, but the Ruler of the Dawn Great General started to crow too.
Yang Kai understood that the situation was bad, and he knew that Zhou Zheng would be alarmed if he ignored things. Zhou Zheng intended to cause him trouble from the beginning, and if he had any excuse, Yang Kai would definitely suffer from it.
Without a choice, he opened the door again and put on a surprised face, “So it is Ruler of the Dawn Great General. What a rare guest!”
Great General seemed notably maddened and pecked at Yang Kai with its beak, which Yang Kai immediately dodged, and asked in shock, “What is the meaning of this, Great General?”
Great General blocked the door with its fat buttock and continued to crow as he flapped his wings.
Yang Kai cursed secretly in his heart, [This damn chicken has a good memory. It still remembers the agreement until now even if it was a month ago. I just came back to rest for a night and it already came to visit me.]
As its noise was getting louder and louder, many Workers had opened their doors to check what was going on. Therefore, Yang Kai had no choice but to take out the treasure box and announced, “Great General, do you want Jade Fire Silkworms? I’ve caught them for you. They’re inside here. Please calm down.”
As soon as he took out the box, the Ruler of the Dawn Great General immediately calmed down, its eyes locked on the box.
Yang Kai could not help complaining silently, [If you like to eat worms so much, why don’t you just go to the orchard to catch them instead of requesting others to bring them back for you?]
Under the Ruler of the Dawn Great General’s watchful eyes, Yang Kai took out a Jade Fire Silkworm from the box. The next moment, Ruler of the Dawn Great General extended its neck to peck, and the Jade Fire Silkworm disappeared.
“Eat slowly, no one will snatch it from you!” Yang Kai smiled, but he was thinking about what to say after he fed him the last Jade Fire Silkworm. The golden rooster did not seem to be fooled easily, and Yang Kai had no idea what would happen if he only produced two of the five promised worms.
[Why don’t I just drag it inside and butcher it?] Yang Kai gave up as soon as the thought flitted across his mind. Given that so many people saw the golden rooster in front of his door, if anything happened to Great General, Yang Kai would definitely be suspected.
After delaying as much as he could, he fed the second Jade Fire Silkworm to Great General.
Yang Kai scratched his chin and probed tentatively, “Great General may not know about this, this Jade Fire Silkworm has a strong Fire Attribute Strength. If you eat too many at once, I’m afraid it will be bad for your health. How about this, Great General should go back and have a rest first before eating the remaining three worms?”
Great General ignored the advice and instead turned his head to the side and stared at Yang Kai with one eye, full of humanized mockery.
Yang Kai suddenly became angry out of shame as he felt he was despised by a chicken…
Before he could say anything more, a pleasant voice came from the outside, “Yang Kai, you forgot this with me.”
When the words fell, an object was tossed into Yang Kai’s face.
Yang Kai reached up to catch it, and when he saw what it was, joy filled his face.
It was a worm-catching box, and when he scanned it with his Divine Sense, he could tell that there were exactly three Jade Fire Silkworms inside.
He looked up and nodded at the visitor to show his gratitude, then shook the box in his hand as he continued, “Does Great General still want to eat?”
“Oh oh oh oh…”
Yang Kai did not want to waste time on him anymore, only hoping to send this scourge away as soon as possible, so he swiftly fed the three Jade Fire Silkworms to him before letting out a sigh, “Great General, five Jade Fire Silkworms, no more and no less. Fortunately, I did not fail my mission!”
“Oh oh oh…” Ruler of the Dawn Great General crowed at him again.
Yang Kai’s face darkened, “Great General, what does this mean? We made an agreement a month ago. Do you want to renege on our deal now?”
Dié You, who leaned on the doorframe and watched the show, covered her mouth and smiled, “Great General says he is a man of his word, so how can he break his promise? Smelly brat, give him your hand, Great General is giving out a reward!”
“A reward?” Hearing this, Yang Kai raised his brow, but immediately understood what it meant and hurriedly extended his hand to the Ruler of the Dawn Great General.
The Ruler of the Dawn Great General opened its mouth and a mass of golden light floated out of it, falling on Yang Kai’s palm. When the light dispersed, a Spirit Pill glowing in seven-coloured light sat on his palm.
[Is this an Open Heaven Pill?]
Although Yang Kai had not seen Open Heaven Pills before, he could still identify it from the information that he obtained in the previous conversation with Old Fang. This Spirit Pill in his hand was definitely an Open Heaven Pill.
He had heard that if the Ruler of the Dawn Great General was in a good mood, he might give out Open Heaven Pills, but he did not expect to get one so soon.
Yang Kai was overjoyed and quickly cupped his fists, “Many thanks, Great General!”
At that moment, the Ruler of the Dawn Great General had already turned around and walked out of the door with his wiggling butt.
“Get home safe, Great General. Come and play again when you’re free!” Dié You greeted with a smile.
After the golden rooster left, Yang Kai grinned and shook the Open Heaven Pill in his hand, “So lucky!”
Dié You rolled her eyes at him and revealed, “Every newcomer will be rewarded an Open Heaven Pill when they feed a Jade Fire Silkworm to Great General for the first time.”
Yang Kai was surprised, “Is it for certain?”
Dié You shrugged her shoulders, “En, I haven’t seen an exception for all these years.”
Yang Kai was stunned for a long time before he began cursing through gritted teeth, “That old fox!”
It was no wonder Old Fang was so cheerful when he asked to borrow the worm-catching tools. It seemed that he knew about this custom too. Yang Kai thought Old Fang was a generous soul, but now it seemed that the old man had known about Great General’s habits and had been aiming for this Open Heaven Pill since the beginning.
Just as Yang Kai understood this point, the old fox appeared.
Old Fang rushed into the house with a flicker, and nodded at Dié You with a smile, “Sister Dié You is here.”
“Old Fang!” Dié You nodded.
“I’m here to find this little brat!” Old Fang pointed at Yang Kai and went straight to him, stretched out his hand, and continued, “Take it out brat. Don’t tell me you have nothing.”
Looking at his bright smile and his appearance of having achieved a great victory, Yang Kai really felt like taking out his Azure Dragon Spear and stabbing Old Fang to death!
“Hurry up, hurry up, what are you waiting for?” Old Fang urged, just like a predatory creditor.
Yang Kai clenched his teeth as he slammed the Open Heaven Pill on Old Fang’s palm. Old Fang immediately beamed and put it away carefully. Then he stretched out his hand again, “How about my things? Give them back to me too.”
“Lend them to me a bit longer!” Yang Kai turned his head away.
“What? How is this Old Master supposed to catch worms if he lends you the tools? Return them to me, or this Old Master will fight you to the death!”
“You can try!” Yang Kai glared sideways at him.
The old man turned to Dié You and complained, “Sister Dié You, be our judge. This shitty brat doesn’t want to return what he borrowed. Isn’t he too terrible?”
Dié You chuckled, “Since when did you two become so close?”
Old Fang rolled his eyes, “This Old Master is not close to him! It’s just that his plot is next to mine. You have no idea. This Old Master has been used by him as a slave this past month. It was a true living Hell.”
Dié You’s face changed drastically at Old Fang’s words and she questioned in a deep voice, “The plot next to yours? Isn’t that ‘that’ plot?”
Old Fang nodded, “En, that one…”
Dié You frowned. After pondering for a while, she turned to Yang Kai, “Return the tools to him. Elder Sister will take you to buy a new set later.”
Yang Kai was unwilling as he had only just gotten that Open Heaven Pill for a moment before it was taken away by Old Fang. He did not even have the time to study it carefully. Although he had made a promise earlier, he was still upset that Old Fang had set him up.
However, since Dié You had already spoken, it was unreasonable if he did not return it, so Yang Kai reluctantly returned the box and the remaining half of the incense. Old Fang took it and left happily.
Glancing at Yang Kai, Dié You laughed, “Alright, stop sulking. Although I don’t know what agreement you made with Old Fang, since it is an agreement, it has to be fulfilled. You feel that you are at a loss only because you know too little about this place. You will gain wisdom with every lesson, just be careful in the future.”
Yang Kai nodded and acknowledged. He was actually not really angry. Although Old Fang did hide information from him, he did teach Yang Kai a lot in the past month.
“Many thanks for your assistance, Sister Dié You,” Yang Kai thanked her with cupped fists.
If Dié You had not brought three Jade Fire Silkworms today, who knows what kind of commotion the golden rooster would have caused.
Dié You looked at him with a smile, “So, it’s not Elder Sister anymore?”
Yang Kai wondered, “Since when did I call you that?”
Dié You pursed her lips, “Didn’t you call me Elder Sister here, Elder Sister there back then…”
Yang Kai rolled his eyes and changed the subject, “So, did Sister come here on purpose because you knew that I couldn’t get five Jade Fire Silkworms?”
Dié You nodded, “You’re a newcomer, you don’t even have anything to catch the worms, how could you collect five? I was also there when it happened, and since it was something I knew about, I couldn’t just ignore it. I was even worried that I didn’t bring enough, but good thing that you had already caught two on your own, and just managed to complete your task.”
“No matter what, this Yang will remember the kindness Sister has shown today and will return the favour in the future.”
“You better focus on getting over your current difficulties first,” Dié You frowned.
“What difficulties?”
“There’s something wrong with your plot.” Dié You looked at him, “Didn’t Old Fang tell you?”
“En, he said that three fruit trees have died in the past ten years, and three people have been ‘replaced’, making me the fourth!” Yang Kai rubbed his chin and continued, “But I have also checked carefully, and there is nothing wrong with the land, and I can’t see anything wrong with the fruit trees either for the time being.”
“It doesn’t mean there’s no problem even if you can’t see it. The people before you had also investigated thoroughly, but it only takes one month from the discovery of a problem to the death of the fruit tree. If you really find anything, you must be careful.”
“Understood,” Yang Kai nodded sternly.
“Good, it’s rare to have a chance to rest, do you want to go to the shopping district?” Dié You giggled at him.
“Yes!” Yang Kai suddenly became energetic, “I’m going to buy a set of worm-catching tools.”
“Then come with me,” Dié You beckoned and led the way.
Yang Kai closed the door and followed closely.
The two soared straight into the sky.
Yang Kai wondered, “Isn’t the shopping district in Fire Spirit Land?”
Dié You shook her head and laughed, “The shopping district in Seven Wonders Land is for all Spirit Lands, so there are not only people from Fire Spirit Land there but also people from other Spirit Lands.”
Yang Kai frowned in confusion, “Will it matter if we just left like this? Will someone stop us or something?”
“Although we can go out of Fire Spirit Land, the entire Seven Wonders Land is covered by a Grand Array, and there’s no way to leave without an order and an exit pass, so don’t even think about it.” She suddenly whispered, “Seriously, don’t even mention it, you won’t end well if you get caught escaping.”
Yang Kai gave her a thoughtful look, and replied softly, “I understand.”
As Dié You mentioned, there was no hindrance when they left Fire Spirit Land. Dié You led him out easily, and the two of them zoomed towards a cloud-covered land, using only an hour to arrive right before the cloud.
Dié You sent him a transmission, “Follow me close and don’t get lost!”
And she dived into the clouds, followed closely by Yang Kai.
Everything seemed to be isolated from him as they sped through the clouds, except for the graceful figure in front of him. After a stick of incense, the surrounding cloud and mist dissipated, and what welcomed Yang Kai’s eyes was a world that was dead and still yet lively and noisy.
It was dead and still because there was not a single drop of World Energy or vitality here, and not even the slightest greenery could be seen.
The liveliness, on the other hand, was because of the packed crowds below that streamed back and forth. From a high altitude, buildings with different styles were arranged in a disorganized and unaesthetic way.
The area of the entire shopping district was not large, only about a hundred kilometres in diameter. One could see the end of the district at a glance, which was bordered by clouds and mist that rolled and churned with a sense of vitality.
Dié You explained beside him, “This shopping district is said to be a Universe World Fragment. Heavenly Monarch brought it back from a trip outside and put it here as a place for us Workers to exchange and trade.”
Yang Kai nodded with comprehension, “No wonder it’s so desolate.” Since it was a Universe World Fragment, such a desolate scene did not come as a surprise. If the Star Boundary failed to stop Great Demon God’s plan, it probably would fall apart into fragments just like this and be eaten by Ah Da, leaving nothing behind.
Suddenly curious, Yang Kai queried, “Where do the disciples in Seven Wonders Land do business?”
“They do it at another place, and the things we have as Workers generally would not pique their interests, but some Seven Wonders Land disciples are still needed here to maintain order. You should be careful if you see anyone wearing Seven Coloured Robes. There are of course a few stores owned by Seven Wonders Land that do business with us Workers here as well.”
“Understood.” Yang Kai nodded.
“The shopping district here is only open for three days a month, which are the three days when we get to rest, and it will be closed after that, so you have to come over during these three days if you have anything to buy. Let’s go down first, we’ll get you a set of worm-catching tools,” Dié You beckoned and flew down first.
Yang Kai followed after her, looking around curiously. They were not the only ones as many other Workers flew down from every direction, obviously taking advantage of this free time to do trading in the shopping district.
The pair landed in the crowd and were immediately surrounded by the hustle and bustle from all directions. Yang Kai was thrown into confusion for a while as he felt as if he had gone back in time, suddenly overwhelmed by nostalgia.
The shopping district felt notably familiar to him, though the people around him were very different from before as they had all condensed their own Dao Seal. They were all considered Great Emperor level Masters in the Star Boundary!
In the shopping district, most of the stalls were set up in no particular order, each displaying all sorts of strange goods. While some stall owners sat in the back and rested, some others were busy bargaining with interested buyers; some were even shouting vigorously in an attempt to attract onlookers.
There were also some stores, but they were all built carelessly. They were far from beautiful and only slightly larger than the stalls set up everywhere else.
Only a few storefronts were built in a stately manner, all of which were obviously the Seven Wonders Land storefronts that Dié You mentioned.
Yang Kai was overwhelmed as he shuttled through the crowd. The people who came and went were from different Universe Worlds, and the things they had on them were basically unique to their respective homes, so most of the items placed on the booths were completely unrecognizable to Yang Kai.
However, after walking for a while, Yang Kai found that despite its liveliness, there were not many successful deals made. Even if there were any, they were all barter trades.
He pondered for a while on this subject before he understood. As Workers, it was hard to earn just three Open Heaven Pills every year, so each one was an extremely valuable asset. Naturally, they would not use Open Heaven Pills as a currency for purchasing.
Yang Kai suddenly realized a problem and opened his mouth to ask, “Xiao Dié, what do I need to buy that worm-catching tool? Open Heaven Pills?”
“What did you call me?” Dié You turned to look at him.
Yang Kai snickered, “Dié You?”
Dié You glared at him, nodded, and replied, “That tool is made by Seven Wonders Land, and it can only be purchased with Open Heaven Pills.”
“I don’t have any Open Heaven Pills!” Yang Kai flailed his empty hands.
“I’ll lend you some!” Dié You smiled, since she brought Yang Kai to this place, how could she not have considered this issue?
“There’s no need to be so generous…” Yang Kai rubbed his hands.
“You’ll have to return it with interest!” Dié You smiled slyly.
Yang Kai nodded happily, “Deal. I’ll have to thank you in advance.” Then he frowned, “In this case, how can newcomers buy worm-catching tools? What if the worms on fruit trees needed to be caught?”
Dié You led the way while explaining, “They ask for help from the others, just like how you found Old Fang. No one will refuse such a good thing.”
Yang Kai suddenly understood. If someone else helped to catch the worms, the caught Jade Fire Silkworms would belong to them, and they could give them to the Ruler of the Dawn Great General, who may grant them Open Heaven Pills. Naturally, no one would refuse such a deal. One could even make an agreement with a newcomer just like Old Fang, by letting the newcomer feed the Ruler of the Dawn Great General, and receive the guaranteed Open Heaven Pill as a reward.
Clearly, it was not easy for a newcomer to gain a foothold here at all.
While they were talking, the two had already arrived at the door of a certain storefront. Although this storefront was not built very magnificently, it was somewhat more impressive than average.
Needless to say, this store belonged to Seven Wonders Land.
The staff in the store were Seven Wonders Land disciples, all of whom donned Seven Coloured Robes. There was a stark difference between them and the Workers.
When the pair entered the store, they were not received with any warm greetings. A young man sitting behind the counter with his head down asked casually, “What do you want to buy?”
Dié You stepped forward and smiled, “Senior Brother, I want to buy a Cyan Wood Box and two boxes of Refined Incense.”
Hearing her sweet voice, the young man raised his head and replied with a smile, “Thirty Open Heaven Pills.” His eyes swept up and down as he spoke, stopping on her voluptuous peaks.
Dié You frowned and asked, “Senior Brother, are you mistaken? It was only 25 pills before.”
The young man leaned back on the chair and snickered, “The price has increased.”
“When did that happen? The price hadn’t gone up when I came here three months ago.”
The young man replied, “This month, does Little Sister not have enough Open Heaven Pills? It’s fine, do you want Senior Brother here to give you some? Not only that, I can give you an Open Heaven Pill every month!”
“Senior Brother’s kindness is appreciated but unnecessary,” Dié You shook her head slowly, then waved her hand over the counter, on which 30 Open Heaven Pills were placed.
The young man looked at the Open Heaven Pills on the table and asked, chuckling, “30 Open Heaven Pills is worth 10 years of pay as a Worker. It’s quite a long time. Are you sure?”
Dié You pursed her red lips, “Many thanks for Senior Brother’s concern. I can still afford 30 Open Heaven Pills.”
“Good!” The young man nodded, reaching out with his hand and swiping the Open Heaven Pills into his pocket before he took out a wooden box and two boxes of incense. He then nodded and continued to work on his own business.
Dié You kept the purchases, said goodbye politely, and led Yang Kai away.
“Take your time to think about it when you go back. You can find me here at any time. I will be here every time the shopping district opens.” The young man’s voice came from behind.
Ignoring him, Dié You kept walking, and soon disappeared into the crowd.
Yang Kai, who had been following behind her, could not help looking back at the storefront and sighing lightly. He had been hanging out with Old Fang in the orchard for a month, but he still did not know much about the situation as a Worker here. However, he started to understand now.
He was not a child, and given that the young man was willing to give Dié You items for no reason and promised to give her an Open Heaven Pill every month, Yang Kai knew his motive. A pill a month would mean 12 pills a year. Compared to working hard as a Worker, it was 4 times the income. Dié You could have just nodded and agreed to serve him, and she would not have to suffer anymore. Who knows, she might even stand a chance to get rid of her status as a Worker with the help of this Seven Wonders Land disciple.
Nevertheless, Yang Kai was relieved that the young man did not force her. He wondered if it was due to the regulations of his Sect or other reasons; otherwise, Dié You had no way to resist him at all.
Then again, even if Dié You really agreed to it, Yang Kai would not judge her. Firstly, they were not that familiar with each other, and Yang Kai had no right to tell her what to do. Secondly, if she could find a way out for herself, Yang Kai would be happy for her too.
A Worker’s life would remain unchanged even after a thousand years. How long would it take for her to shake it off through conventional means?
“You just arrived in the Outer Universe, but do you know how the power structure is divided?” Dié You suddenly turned to him and asked.
Yang Kai answered, “The Open Heaven Realm is divided into nine Orders?”
Die You smiled faintly, “Since you already know… There’s no need to waste time on it. There are many materials to condense one’s Yin, Yang and the Five Elements in this shopping district. It can be said that most of the stuff sold in this shopping district is related to that. You can look around more and maybe you can find something useful in the future.”
“Really?” Yang Kai was excited and immediately looked around, soon finding something interesting and hurriedly rushing over towards it.
When Yang Kai came to a stall, the stall owner immediately welcomed him enthusiastically, “Little Brother, are you looking for something? Take a look here, and pick anything you like. My stuff has the best quality and the lowest price. I promise you won’t be disappointed.”
There were not many things on the stall, including several herbs that Yang Kai could not recognize, several weirdly shaped minerals, and a longsword.
What attracted Yang Kai’s attention was a scarlet-coloured fist-sized crystal, which the colour was so pure that it did not have a trace of variegation. Yang Kai felt a scorching Fire Element reverberating from the crystal.
“Little Brother has good eyesight. This Fire Spirit Crystal is the best item here. It took me a lot of effort to get it back in those days. If Little Brother buys it, I’m sure you will be able to condense your Five Elements and be one step closer to the Open Heaven Realm. Heh heh heh, once you reach the Open Heaven Realm, you can get rid of your status as a Worker, and soar to success!” The stall owner spared no effort to promote his wares.
“Why sell such a good thing instead of using it for yourself?” Yang Kai played with the Fire Spirit Crystal in his hand and looked at the stall owner with a smile.
The stall owner put on a long face, “Little Brother, do you know that once you choose one of the Yin, Yang, and Five Elements, the order in which you must condense the rest is set? There will be endless trouble if you deviate from the path. To be honest, what I need now is a Water Element material, so this Fire Spirit Crystal is temporarily useless to me. I just want to sell it first and then use the money to buy the material I need. If not, why would I be willing to sell it? “
After listening to his reasonable explanation, Yang Kai nodded gently, “How much?”
The stall owner drew a number with his hands, “Since Little Brother seems to be a nice person, I won’t quote any false price, and you don’t try to bargain either. 150 Open Heaven Pills. Pay now and you’ll have it, are you interested?”
Yang Kai turned to Dié You, and Dié You returned with a smile, “The price is reasonable.”
The stall owner beamed, “See, even your companion says the price is reasonable. This Liu only engages in clean business and never supports scamming. If you think it’s appropriate, we can make a deal now.”
Yang Kai shook his head slowly and put down the Fire Spirit Crystal in his hand, “Sorry, I’ve only been here for a month and I don’t have any Open Heaven Pill now.”
“Ah…” Instead of being annoyed, the stall owner gave Yang Kai a smile, “It’s alright. We can still be friends even if we can’t make a deal today. It’s not too late for you to save enough Open Heaven Pills to buy it later. Of course, only if my Fire Spirit Crystal has not met its destined owner by then.”
It would require at least 40 – 50 years to earn 150 Open Heaven Pills. Anything could happen in such a long time.
“Then I wish Brother Liu a prosperous business and bountiful wealth!” Yang Kai cupped his fists.
“I shall take advantage of Little Brother’s auspicious words!” The stall owner grinned.
When they were a good distance away from the stall, Dié You finally spoke, “If you’re not in a hurry, save more Open Heaven Pills first. That Fire Spirit Crystal that you just saw is only a First-Order material. If you use that kind of thing to condense your Fire Element, your future achievements will be very limited.”
“That Fire Spirit Crystal is only First-Order?” Yang Kai was shocked. There were nine Orders in the Open Heaven Realm so the materials that were used to condense the Yin, Yang, and Five Elements were also categorized into nine Orders, First-Order being the lowest while Ninth-Order was the highest. However, that was all Yang Kai knew, and without any reference, he was clueless about how to distinguish the Order of materials.
Still, even if Dié You did not mention it, he would have inquired about it.
“Yes, you can use First-Order materials to condense the required Elements before splitting Heaven and Earth apart within your body, but you will only reach the First-Order of the Open Heaven Realm.”
Yang Kai frowned, “Is anyone going to buy something like that?”
“People with profound backgrounds and origins naturally are not interested in buying such materials, but for Workers like us, we don’t really have a choice. Over the years, I’ve seen many Workers reach the Open Heaven Realm and get rid of their lowly status, but they generally only reach the First or Second-Order. What’s the point of escaping the status of being a Worker if they have to sacrifice their entire future for it.”
“There are Workers who reach the Open Heaven Realm?” Yang Kai was dumbfounded. If so, his previous estimation was wrong. He thought that there were around eight Open Heaven Realm Masters in Seven Wonders Land, but now it seemed that there could be more than eighty of them.
However, the strength that these First-Order and Second-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters could exert must be limited. Still, it should be superior to any Emperor Realm Master.
“If First-Order materials cost 150 Open Heaven Pills, what about Second-Order materials?” Yang Kai questioned.
“Generally, the value difference of the materials between every Order gap is tenfold!”
“Tenfold!” Yang Kai was startled. According to her, a Second-Order material would be 1500 pills, a Third-Order material would be 15,000 pills, a Fourth-Order material would be 150,000 pills, a Fifth-Order material would be more than a million, and a Sixth-Order material…
Yang Kai suddenly felt a little dizzy.
“The Open Heaven Realm has nine Orders, and these nine Orders are also categorized into three grades by others, which were the High-Rank Open Heaven Realm, Mid-Rank Open Heaven Realm, and Low-Rank Open Heaven Realm. The Seventh, Eighth and Ninth-Order belong to the High-Rank, the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth-Order belong to the Mid-Rank, while the First, Second, Third-Order belong to the Low-Rank. Among these, Fourth-Order and Seventh-Order are the two important dividing lines. If you want to be successful in this Outer Universe, you should at least achieve the Fourth-Order Open Heaven Realm.”
Yang Kai nodded with a solemn face, “Understood!” Suddenly he whispered, “Do you know what the Open Heaven Realm Orders of Heavenly Monarch and the Venerables are?”
Dié You shook her head slowly, “No idea, but I once heard that Heavenly Monarch is either Fourth-Order or Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm. The Orders of the Venerables are probably a little lower than Heavenly Monarch’s.”
“En…” Yang Kai nodded.
As they walked and talked, Yang Kai would stop in front of the stalls from time to time to view the Yin, Yang, and the Five Elements materials and inquired about the price.
It was exactly as Dié You disclosed, the price gap between every Order or material was tenfold.
Moreover, looking at the whole shopping district, the materials put out in the Workers’ stalls were all just First and Second-Order, with nothing in the Third-Order and above.
Thinking about it, it was not surprising at all. All the Workers of Seven Wonders Land came from different Universe Worlds and were essentially the lowest of labourers in the Outer Universe. Even if they had anything good, they probably had no chance to keep it, for Zhou Zheng and others like him would always be expecting gifts from them. It was exactly because Yang Kai did not give Zhou Zheng anything that he was assigned a plot of land with a history of dead trees.
The Workers were only able to preserve these First-Order and Second-Order materials.
“Have you condensed your Wood Element?” Dié You suddenly asked.
Without denying, Yang Kai nodded, “En.” There was no point denying it. In any case, the Immortal Tree’s power had been completely stored in his Dao Seal, and no one could tell what Order it was now. Furthermore, it was not surprising that Dié You noticed this since he had paid a lot of attention to any Fire Attribute materials along the way.
Dié You continued, “If so, next time when you go to the orchard, you can try using your Wood Element power to nourish the fruit trees.”
“Wood sustains Fire?” Yang Kai raised his brow.
Dié You laughed, “Exactly. But remember to control the power well, even a good thing in excess can be bad.”
“I see. I’ll be careful.”
At that moment, they came to a shop. It could be regarded as the largest building in the entire shopping district. The three-story building stood out among the scattered shops in the shopping district like a crane amongst chickens.
“Let’s go in and open your eyes,” Dié You smiled.
“What do they sell?” Yang Kai looked up and saw three characters embossed on a plaque right in front of the store.
“Open Heaven Temple!”
Upon entering the store, Yang Kai immediately understood what business Open Heaven Temple did. It was also a place that sold Yin, Yang and the Five Elements materials, but the scale and layout were far better compared to the messy booths outside.
He followed behind Dié You and the two of them walked around the first floor. Yang Kai was dazzled by the display counters, which were filled with Ying, Yang, Five Elements materials. There were multitudes of options; however, the prices were a little higher than the ones placed at the stalls outside.
Even so, from time to time, deals were made with the Seven Wonders Land disciples donned in Seven Coloured Robes.
“Are all these First-Order too?” Yang Kai asked in a low voice. On this shopping trip, he learned to deduce the Order of these materials, and after walking around, he found that the materials on the first floor were all First-Order.
Dié You nodded, “The items on the first floor are all First-Order, items on the second floor are Second-Order, and the third floor, Third-Order!”
Yang Kai’s eyes lit up, “Are Third-Order materials for sale here?” According to his previous calculations, a Third-Order material required more than 15,000 Open Heaven Pills, which was an impossible number for a Worker.
According to the worker’s wages, it would take at least 5,000 years to save up this much! But who would not spend a single Open Heaven Pill on anything else to eat or drink in such a long time? Not to mention that no Worker would really work here for 5,000 years.
“Want to see?” Dié You smiled at him.
Yang Kai replied, “Since I have come, naturally I want to.”
“Let’s go then,” Dié You beckoned and led Yang Kai up the stairs.
They didn’t stop at the second floor and went directly to the third floor. The area of the third floor was obviously much smaller than that of the first, and there was not nearly as much selection. Seven Wonders Land obviously knew it was extremely difficult for Workers to purchase Third-Order materials, so it was useless to display many of them here. Only some materials were laid out casually as a way to give the Workers some hope, and to motivate them to work harder.
Yang Kai could not help thinking that the items on the third floor to the Workers were just like carrots dangling in front of a donkey…
“See for yourself,” Dié You laughed, “As long as you don’t touch anything, no one will worry about you.”
Yang Kai nodded and walked around with his hands folded behind his back.
There were also disciples from Seven Wonders Land on the third floor, but as Dié You said, as long as he did not touch anything, they didn’t pay him any mind.
Yang Kai moved from one counter to another, slowly observing and memorizing the characteristics of each and every Third-Order material.
For a person who used the Immortal Tree to condense his Wood Element, Yang Kai was naturally not impressed by the Third-Order materials here. Although he was a newcomer to the Outer Universe, Yang Kai had set his aim high from the very beginning. For the sake of the Immortal Tree, he had to find other materials that matched its Order to advance to the Open Heaven Realm.
Otherwise, his excellent start would be wasted.
He came here mainly just to explore and expand his horizons.
The third floor was not big, so it did not take long for Yang Kai to finish viewing everything, after which he looked up and saw Dié You stopping in front of a counter and walked over.
Following her gaze, he saw a bundle of irregular-shaped objects filled with Metal Element aura placed on the counter. Dié You watched with longing at the objects that continuously twisted and contorted into eccentric shapes.
Yang Kai’s brow twitched and whispered, “Do you want to buy this?”
Dié You turned to look at him and smiled, “Are you done looking at everything?”
Yang Kai nodded, “Done, there is nothing much to see.” As soon as he mentioned this, Yang Kai felt a sharp gaze and when he looked up, a Seven Wonders Land disciple keeping the third floor threw him a sarcastic look, probably because what he said just now sounded a little like shameless boasting! After all, to any Worker, the price for all these objects was sky-high, and there were very few capable buyers. What Yang Kai said sounded ridiculous in this disciple’s eyes.
They didn’t know that for Yang Kai, the items here were really unattractive.
“How many Open Heaven Pills is this?” Yang Kai asked again.
“16,000!” Dié You replied. She obviously had already inquired about the price before, and it was a little higher than what Yang Kai had estimated, but there was little bargaining room as this was the only place a Worker could purchase Third-Order materials in the entire Seven Wonders Land. As the saying goes, what is rare will be more expensive, and the increased price was still within an acceptable range.
“Do you have enough?” Yang Kai tilted his head at her.
Dié You burst out laughing, “How is that possible? I don’t even have thirty percent of that.”
Yang Kai frowned, “But this is only a Third-Order material…”
Dié You tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and smiled, “I know what you want to say. I felt the same way when I first came to the Outer Universe, trying to find better materials to condense my Yin, Yang, and Five Elements. Even if I can’t reach the High-Rank Open Heaven Realm in a single bound, I have to at least achieve the Mid-Rank, but ideas and reality are two different things. It’s actually not too bad if I really reached the Third-Order Open Heaven Realm. Then I can consume Open Heaven Pills to increase my Order. If I’m lucky, I might even be able to reach the Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm in this lifetime, and a Fifth-Order Open Heaven Master is already a hegemon in this vast world.”
Yang Kai nodded when he heard her explanation, “Fair enough.”
There might not be a single Fifth-Order Open Heaven Master in the entire Seven Wonders Land. Even if there was, it would most probably be the Heavenly Monarch only while the Venerable Protectors should not be Fifth-Order.
Yang Kai could not help but sigh, how many people’s ambition and passion had time extinguished? If one’s situation had not changed after a thousand years, could they remain as optimistic as they were before?
Yang Kai did not know…
“When I’ve earned enough, I’ll buy it for you.” Yang Kai declared.
Dié You covered her mouth and giggled, “Then Elder Sister will thank you in advance.” Obviously, she did not take his words seriously. After staying here for a thousand years, she knew better than anyone how difficult it was for a Worker to earn 16,000 Open Heaven Pills.
By the looks of Dié You’s longing for the Metal Element material, Yang Kai could not help but wonder if she had already condensed her Earth Element; otherwise, why would she act like that?
While the two were talking, a sudden sound of footsteps thundered from the stairs, and an imposing figure burst in from the stairwell, revealing a huge man, whose steps caused the entire Open Heaven Temple to tremble.
His copper-bell-like eyes swept across the floor and suddenly lit up. He walked towards them with a smile on his face, and greeted cheerfully, “Xiao Dié, you really are here!”
Hearing the voice, Dié You’s face darkened all of a sudden and she turned her head aside without giving a response.
Yang Kai looked over, and could not help feeling a little surprised. This tall and mighty figure was well over two metres high and in just two or three strides, he reached right in front of Dié You with a grin on his face.
Dié You, who already had a tall figure for a woman, looked like a child standing in front of him.
Even Yang Kai had to raise his head to look up at this man. The person in front of him resembled a big black bear standing on its hind legs, permeating a strong sense of oppression.
The bear was smiling from ear to ear, but the smile immediately vanished when he saw Yang Kai next to Dié You. He pointed at Yang Kai with a big fan-like palm and demanded, “Xiao Dié, who is this little brat?”
However, before Dié You could reply, the Seven Wonders Land disciple who was tending the third floor barked, “Quiet down or I’ll kick you out!”
The bear’s head immediately shrunk a little at the reprimand, and he swiftly nodded at the Seven Wonders Land disciple, “Senior Brother, please calm yourself. This Little Brother lost control of his emotions just now and was a little loud. Please forgive me.”
The Seven Wonders Land disciple snorted coldly but did not say anything more.
The bear threw Yang Kai a vicious look, then turned to smile at Dié You again, “Xiao Dié, have you come to see this Stainless Golden Dew again? You have been coming here every month just to see it. Let’s just buy it together. You have saved a lot of Open Heaven Pills, and I have some too. If we sell some of our things, we should be able to accumulate enough to buy it. By then you can look at it all you want.”
“No need,” Dié You frowned and beckoned to Yang Kai. “Let’s go, there is nothing else to see here.” After saying that, she took the lead and walked away.
Just as Yang Kai was about to follow, he was shoved aside by the bear. Seeing him chase after Dié You downstairs, Yang Kai scratched his nose and followed them leisurely.
After leaving Open Heaven Temple, Dié You dove into the crowd. The bear continued to follow her like a shadow, and although he was burly, his movements were extremely flexible, managing to squeeze between the crowd, trying to engage in a conversation with his target. It was a pity that Dié You’s response was nonchalant, apparently completely uninterested in speaking to him.
Even a blind man could tell that this bear-like man was interested in Dié You, but it was no surprise. With Dié You’s curvy figure and alluring appearance, it was only natural that she would attract the attention and admiration of some men. Even the Seven Wonders Land disciple from the place where they bought the wooden box and incense took a fancy to her.
But unfortunately, Dié You did not seem to care much about any of these men. The big bear did not mind, however, and just kept laughing with her all the way, talking constantly to engage in a conversation with her while trying his best to be courteous.
Yang Kai saluted him too, for his skin was so thick that it could be compared to the Dragon Scales on his own body…
All of a sudden, Dié You stopped abruptly, then looked back at Yang Kai and said, “I’m going back first, do you want to stay here a little while longer?”
Yang Kai was stunned for a moment before he understood what Dié You meant and smiled, “En, I’ll stay for a bit. Many thanks, Sister Dié You.”
“No problem!” Dié You smiled, then soared into the sky.
The bear was a little slow to respond as he was still standing where he stopped, rubbing his chin. Stealing a glance at Yang Kai, he then quickly chased after Dié You, shouting, “Xiao Dié, wait for me!”
Watching the two leave, Yang Kai chuckled softly, learning that Dié You was indeed quite thoughtful.
She asked that earlier, not because she was in a hurry to get rid of him, but because she did not want the bear to cause him trouble. Although Yang Kai was not afraid of trouble, it was better to avoid getting into any in this place, and the bear did not seem to be a reasonable individual.
Wandering around alone in this shopping district was an eye-opening experience, but not very rewarding.
It was getting late, and just when Yang Kai was about to leave, he heard someone calling his name.
Yang Kai turned around and saw a figure waving at him from a small teahouse in the distance. Yang Kai approached with a smile and called out, “Ah Sun, you’re here too!”
Ah Sun replied cheerfully, “En, I heard that there’s a shopping district here, so I came to have a look. I wanted to invite you to come along, but you weren’t in your house.”
He did not have the intention of inviting Ah Sun along with him earlier, but thinking that Ah Sun actually thought of him, Yang Kai could not help feeling a bit ashamed of himself.
Ah Sun was not alone in the teahouse as the several newcomers who came with the Venerable Protector were there too. It seemed that they came here together.
But what surprised Yang Kai was how these people got the money to have tea here. Although this teahouse looked simple and was also opened by a Worker, there was no way for them to drink tea for free. In other words, they needed to pay Open Heaven Pills in order to sit here and drink.
Yang Kai turned around and had a look at the price list of all kinds of Spirit Tea. The cheapest pot of tea cost 1 Open Heaven Pill, while the most expensive one was 10 Open Heaven Pills.
Everyone was new and poor. Even Yang Kai could only get 1 Open Heaven Pill all thanks to the reward of Ruler of the Dawn Great General, but he was robbed by Old Fang of that earlier. The question was, where did they get the Open Heaven Pill to pay for the tea?
Looking at the way they were seated, the burly fellow from the Black River World was sitting in the main seat, which obviously meant he was treating today.
“All of you are here,” Yang Kai greeted with a smile. Although they were not too close, since they had spent some time together in the Small Universe of the Venerable Protector, they were not strangers to each other either, and they had already exchanged their names and backgrounds.
The dignified woman Su Nian Yi, the Male Monster Shi Hao Cang, and the naive boy Qian Yu got up and greeted Yang Kai in return. Only the burly man Fang Tai remained seated on the main seat, giving just a small nod.
Yang Kai was astonished because Fang Tai was not so arrogant before. What changed him so much in this past month? However, Yang Kai did not have a deep relationship with these people, and Ah Sun was the only one he interacted with slightly more. It was impossible to judge a person’s heart from his face, so without getting along with them for some time, Yang Kai would not know their true nature.
In any case, he did not care too much about it and simply returned the gesture with a smile before asking, “Why are all of you here? Is the Spirit Tea here free?”
Su Nian Yi smiled, “How can it be free? This pot of tea cost one Open Heaven Pill.” She turned to glance at Fang Tai as she continued, “But since Brother Fang insisted on treating us, it would be impolite if we refused him. Brother Yang, would you like to sit down and try it? Although this Spirit Tea is a little expensive, it’s really good.”
“Since Brother Yang is here too, let’s drink together. We have something to discuss too.” Fang Tai invited.
“Many thanks then,” Yang Kai cupped his fists and sat down.
Ah Sun quickly poured a cup of tea for Yang Kai, who took a sip and tasted it carefully. The tea was exceptionally good and he emptied the cup in just a few sips, leaving him wanting for more.
Nevertheless, there was not much tea left in the pot. The few of them had drunk some of the tea before, so there was only one cup left for Yang Kai.
Yang Kai queried, “What did you want to discuss?”
Fang Tai answered, “After a month of being here, we managed to have a grasp of the general situation. Since Brother Yang could find this shopping district by yourself, you must have gathered some information from others as well. You should know how difficult it is for newcomers like us to gain a foothold here.”
Yang Kai nodded and sighed, “I know indeed!”
Fang Tai smiled faintly, “As such, this Fang thought that we should form an alliance and help each other. Everyone else has already agreed to it. How about you, Brother Yang?”
Hearing the proposal, Yang Kai answered, “Sure, we are all newcomers from the same batch, so if we don’t help each other, no one will.”
Fang Tai’s face turned serious, “That’s what this Fang means. United we stand, divided we fall. Everyone here must have been an overlord in their own Universe Worlds, but although we are a little suppressed in this Outer Universe, we will be able to achieve something in the future if the five of us work together.”
Yang Kai turned to glance at the others and found that they indeed had no objection, so he asked, “I have no problem with this alliance, but how should we go about it specifically? Since we are forming our own group, it can’t be just empty words. Let’s say Sister Ah Sun is bullied…”
Ah Sun pouted, “Why would I be the one being bullied? Do I look easy to bully?”
“It’s just an example…” Yang Kai chuckled.
Fang Tai answered, “Without violating the rules of Seven Wonders Land, we naturally have to seek justice for Sister Ah Sun!”
There’s nothing wrong with this answer, so Yang Kai naturally would not refute it.
Fang Tai added, “For another example, regarding the Jade Fire Silkworm that grows on the Fire Spirit Fruit Trees that we’re taking care of, if we catch them and give them to the Ruler of the Dawn Great General, we might be rewarded with an Open Heaven Pill. In this regard, this Fang can also help everyone. Feel free to call me to help at any time to catch worms for Ruler of the Dawn Great General. If you really get the reward, this Fang will only claim half of the share.”
Yang Kai asked curiously, “Does Brother Fang have worm-catching tools?”
Shi Hao Cang interjected with a buzzing voice, “Brother Yang has no idea. Brother Fang successfully made a contribution as soon as he was assigned a plot in the orchard, and was rewarded with 30 Open Heaven Pills by Manager Zhou.”
Yang Kai blinked at Fang Tai while the latter continued modestly, “It was just good luck. If it were anyone of you, you could have done the same.”
Yang Kai kept smiling, but inside almost exploded from fury. The plot he was assigned had a history of dead trees and the same problem could happen again at any time; on the other hand, Fang Tai benefited from the plot he was assigned. There was simply no comparison between them.
Given that Fang Tai was rewarded with 30 Open Heaven Pills, he must have made a massive contribution; however, Fang Tai did not disclose much about it, so it was inconvenient for Yang Kai to ask what the contribution he made was.
However, it seemed like besides taking care of the fruit trees and offering Jade Fire Silkworms to the Ruler of the Dawn Great General, there were other ways for Workers to earn Open Heaven Pills.
Only then did he realize why Fang Tai could invite everyone to drink tea. The 30 Open Heaven Pills he had were more than enough to buy a set of worm-catching tools, given that Dié You spent only 30 pills to purchase a wooden box and two boxes of incense previously.
Fang Tai pressed on, “If there was no cost involved, this Fang wouldn’t take a share of your benefits, but the Well-Refined Incenses have to be bought from this shopping district; therefore, if you really are rewarded by the Ruler of the Dawn Great General, it’s not too much for this Fang to share half of it.”
Everyone nodded, including Yang Kai. As Dié You mentioned before, the newcomers usually had no tools, and they had to ask someone for help in order to catch worms. But if so, the Jade Fire Silkworm they collected would belong to the loaner and if there was a reward, the borrower could not keep any of his own share at all. As such, it was a fair deal as Fang Tai just asked for half of the reward; after all, he needed to recoup his costs at least.
Fang Tai looked at Yang Kai and carried on, “If Brother Yang agrees, you can ask me for help by then. As long as this Fang is free, he will not refuse.”
Yang Kai did not reveal that he did not need help, because that would mislead the others to think that he was living off a woman if he told them Dié You had bought him a set of tools. Moreover, Yang Kai also planned to return Dié You the Open Heaven Pills once he earned enough in the future. Therefore, he just smiled and said, “Then this Yang will offer his thanks in advance. If I really need Brother Fang’s assistance in the future, I will inform him. However, my plot of land is very small with only a few fruit trees, so I might not need to catch worms.”
Fang Tai responded, “Just come to me if you ever need to. Let’s share a method of contacting each other later so that it will be easier for us to find each other.”
Although the pot of tea was finished, the waiter in the teahouse did not rush them to leave but allowed them to occupy the table to further discuss the matter of their alliance. Everyone became closer to each other during this chat and they exchanged the information they had collected over the past month, making it a fruitful gathering for everyone.
Yang Kai vaguely felt that Fang Tai was making the call in everything, but he could not blame him for this as he was the most successful one among these few newcomers here. Now that everyone wanted something from him, they had to show him some respect.
Fang Tai also requested the waiter to refill a pot of water for them, but it was free. The few of them continued to drink and chitchat, and did not disperse until half a day later.
Fang Tai and the others wanted to continue strolling in the shopping district, but Yang Kai did not join them and instead soared directly into the sky and rushed towards Fire Spirit Land.
The distance from here to Fire Spirit Land was not too far, so he did not have to worry about getting lost as he still remembered the way.
Now that he was in this Seven Wonders Land, Yang Kai naturally could not waste this opportunity. Yang Kai plotted to spend fifty years here at most to get the Open Heaven Pill recipe. If he failed, he would find a way to leave this place; after all, he still needed to find information about the World Tree to save the Star Boundary, so he could not stay as a Worker in this place and take care of the fruit trees forever.
Yang Kai left the Universe World Fragment where the shopping district was located easily and began flying back to his house.
After flying for a while, a vicious aura suddenly locked onto him, followed by a golden light shooting at him from a distance. Inside the golden light, a burly figure could be seen vaguely.
Before it arrived, a huge axe was swung at Yang Kai’s head, accompanied by a fierce shout, “I was still worrying that you wouldn’t come out. Luckily I didn’t waste my time waiting for you!”
Yang Kai narrowed his eyes, wondering who dared to fight him here. Moreover, it was an ambush. Subconsciously, he raised his palms and pushed them forward.
Time Principles flared as the Time Flies Seal shot out!
The golden light dispersed, revealing a figure as burly as a bear, while the power of Yang Kai’s palm strike was also dispelled. The two were repelled a few thousand meters back from the explosion before they could stabilize their figures.
The bear blinked before commenting in amazement, “Not bad, little brat. You’re able to withstand my axe!”
“What are you doing?” Yang Kai’s face darkened, feeling a light headache. He understood why the bear was waiting for him here, but he did not expect that even if he tried not to leave together with Dié You and acted like a stranger to her, this man would still cause him trouble. It was incredibly puerile.
The bear grinned hideously, revealing a mouthful of pristine fangs as he pointed his axe at Yang Kai as he roared, “Little brat, what’s your relationship with Xiao Dié? Be honest, or Father here will kill you!”
[As I thought… ] Yang Kai sighed in his heart, but replied surprisingly, “Do you mean Sister Dié You?”
“Nonsense!” The bear glared, “Who else can it be other than her? Why did you come to the shopping district with her!?”
“My friend, is this perhaps a misunderstanding? I have only known Sister Dié You for less than a month. What relationship could I possibly have with her?”
“If there’s no relationship between the two of you, why would she come to this shopping district with you? Father here has never seen her having any other companion before… Wait, did you say you’ve only known Xiao Dié for a month?” The bear suddenly frowned at Yang Kai, seeming to have recalled something, “Are you one of the newcomers who arrived a month ago?”
Yang Kai nodded and confirmed, “Yes!”
The bear patted his head and guffawed loudly, “No wonder you don’t look familiar, so you’re a newcomer!” The laugh stopped abruptly, and he growled savagely, “How dare a newcomer hit on Father’s woman, are you tired of living?”
Flabbergasted, Yang Kai defended himself, “Is this a misunderstanding, my friend? I’m not close to Sister Dié You. It’s just because I’m a newcomer and I’m not familiar with this shopping district that she kindly brought me here to explore the place.”
“That’s all?” The bear glared at Yang Kai with his copper-bell eyes, the big axe in front of him threatening to swing down at any time.
“What else can it be?”
“Hmph!” Hot air puffed out of the bear’s nostrils as he looked Yang Kai up and down carefully for a long time before speaking, “Seems you’re not stupid after all. Little brat, remember this, Xiao Dié is my woman. If you dare to hit on her, Father here will make you regret ever being born!” He rubbed his chin again, and a look of disdain surfaced on his face, “But then again, Xiao Dié probably wouldn’t be interested in you.”
[If she has no interest in me, it’s even less likely she’d be interested in you.] Yang Kai was tongue-tied, wondering where this bear got his sense of superiority from, but he still replied politely, This friend is right, Xiao Dié is indeed naturally beautiful and has a kind heart. Only someone like you, my friend… a man with a heroic spirit is compatible with her!”
The bear’s vicious expression was immediately replaced by glee, and his gaze became a lot more cordial. Nodding continuously, he boasted, “That’s right, in the entire Fire Spirit Land, no, the entire Seven Wonders Land, the only man who is worthy of Xiao Dié is me! Who else has this qualification? Little brat, you have a good eye! What’s your name?”
Yang Kai cupped his fists, “This Little Brother is Yang Kai!”
The bear nodded, “I’ll remember your name. It’s rare to see a newcomer with such sharp insight. From now on, you can follow me. If someone bullies you in Fire Spirit Land, just say my name.” Pointing his thumb at himself, he continued proudly, “Remember, Father’s name is Xiang Yong!”
“Brother Xiang… This name is indeed majestic and domineering, Little Brother can’t help but admire this name.”
“Save your flattery!” Xiang Yong said, though the smugness of his face could not be concealed.
“Is Brother Xiang also from Fire Spirit Land?” Yang Kai was a little puzzled.
“Yes! What’s so strange about that?”
“No, no, little brother was just a little curious, wondering why he hadn’t met such an imposing and noble man like Brother Xiang earlier.”
“It’s not too late to meet now!”
“Yes, yes, there’s nothing to regret in this lifetime to have met someone like Brother Xiang today.” Yang Kai cleared his throat lightly, and looked at him, “Since the misunderstanding is resolved, can this Little Brother go back now?”
“En, go!”
Yang Kai dismissed himself and brushed past Xiang Yong.
“Wait!” Xiang Yong suddenly flickered next to him and cut off Yang Kai’s path with his axe again, his eyes narrowed, “If Xiao Dié asks…”
“Brother Xiang and I bonded with each other like old friends the moment we met, and Brother Xiang took care of me in every possible way…” Yang Kai did not even need to think before replying.
Xiang Yong grinned happily, “You’re quite good! Father here appreciates you! Good, go back.”
Bidding farewell to Xiang Yong, Yang Kai flew back to Fire Spirit Land, to the village where the Worker’s Room was located, took out his token to open his house, entered, and was just about to sit down when there was a knock outside the door.
It was Dié You, who scanned him from top to bottom with her eyes the moment he opened the door and asked, “Are you all right?”
“Yes? What could have happened to me?” Yang Kai blinked confusedly.
“Good then. Someone told me just now that Xiang Yong left the Worker’s Room. I was going to take a look but I saw you come back first.”
“Xiang Yong? Who is Xiang Yong?”
“He’s that guy who followed me around today, the one who looks like a bear,” Dié You said, laughing at her own description.
“Oh…” Yang Kai nodded, looking surprised, “So his name is Xiang Yong. But what does he have to do with me and you leaving the Worker’s Room?”
“It’s best if it has nothing to do with you.” Dié You simply replied. She then took out two items, “Oh right, I bought this for you today, but I forgot to give it to you.”
It was the Cyan Wood Box, and two boxes of Well-Refined Incense.
Yang Kai took it and thanked her, “Once I’ve saved enough Open Heaven Pills, I’ll pay you back with interest.”
“No hurry.” Dié You laughed, “Have a good rest, I’ll go back now.” She started yawning as she spoke, and her typical weary expression appeared again.
“Take care.” Yang Kai nodded.
After Dié You left, Yang Kai shut the door and took a good look at the Cyan Wood Box and the Well-Refined Incense. He had borrowed such items from Old Fang before for worm-catching, so he was not unfamiliar with it.
Two boxes of Well-Refined Incense contained ten sticks of the incense, which were enough to last him one to two years, so for the time being, it did not matter even if he did not have any Open Heaven Pills.
Just after putting away the box and incense, there was another knock on the door.
Yang Kai felt strange, wondering who came to look for him again. He thought maybe Dié You had forgotten to tell him something again; however, when he opened the door, he was immediately blinded by a golden light.
At the door, a golden rooster half a person tall stood dignifiedly with his head high and chest puffed out, just like a proud General patrolling his territory.
The two looked at each other for a while, and then Yang Kai smiled, “So it is Great General! Is there something I can do for Great General? I don’t have any more Jade Fire Silkworms!”
The Ruler of the Dawn Great General turned his head slowly aside, staring at Yang Kai with one eye.
Yang Kai scratched his head, confused.
After a while of glaring, the Ruler of the Dawn Great General turned and slowly stepped away, his fat buttocks swaying with every step as he walked off slowly.
Yang Kai was bewildered and looked down at himself, wondering if there was something strange about him. By the time he looked up again, the Ruler of the Dawn Great General had disappeared.
He shook his head speechless, shut the door tightly, and went to rest and adjust his breathing.
For the next two days, nothing happened.
Early in the morning of the third day, the sound of the golden rooster announcing dawn resounded throughout the village, and Yang Kai was awakened suddenly. He listened carefully with a frown, vaguely feeling that the sound of the Great General’s crow today was very much closer than normal.
He got up and opened the door and sure enough, the Ruler of the Dawn Great General was screeching and crowing directly at him.
[Do you have a grudge against me?] Yang Kai was so tempted to ask. Ever since his arrival at the Worker’s Room, this rooster had been picking on him.
Glaring at Great General, Yang Kai closed the door behind him and flew into the sky.
Streams of light shot into the sky from all over the village, rushing towards the orchard.
In less than an hour, Yang Kai arrived at his plot. First, he went to inspect every fruit tree on his site to make sure that they were all growing well and recorded the number of Spirit Fruits, making sure that none were missing. Only then did he begin to care for the trees in accordance with their needs.
After half a day of work, Yang Kai finished tending to his thirty fruit trees without much trouble. Since he had nothing to do now, he strode over to Old Fang’s site leisurely with his hands behind his back.
Old Fang was still busy. Due to the many fruit trees under his care, he had to work for a few days every time he came back here before he could stop to rest.
After hanging out together for a month, the two of them could be considered acquaintances. Old Fang merely greeted him briefly before continuing with his work.
Yang Kai followed Old Fang, trying to engage him in conversation. At first, Old Fang entertained him, but it later became notably annoying; how could he be in the mood to chat with Yang Kai when he had not finished his task? Yang Kai, on the other hand, was acting as if he was the experienced one, giving advice and pointers on how to care for the trees, forgetting who was the one who taught him in the first place.
“If you’re really that free, let’s work together and finish early so we can play chess.” Old Fang looked up at Yang Kai, unable to endure it any longer.
Yang Kai turned to look around, silently calculated the amount of work and time Old Fang still needed and then said, “Forget it, since you are busy, I’ll come back to visit in a few days.”
After saying that, Yang Kai walked off casually.
“Ungrateful little wolf!” Old Fang scolded through gritted teeth, “Completely unsympathetic to this old man!”
Yang Kai turned the back of his head to him, pretending not to hear.
Yang Kai returned to his plot and soon grew bored as he could not cultivate in this environment. There really was nothing to do, but he soon remembered that this was a plot where trees had died. He had examined the place before and found no problems, but maybe this time he might get a clue.
Immediately taking out his control token, Yang Kai concentrated on investigating his land, but in the end, he found nothing…
Putting away the token, Yang Kai rubbed his chin, really befuddled with what went wrong with this damned place. Why would three perfectly healthy trees die all of a sudden?
Inadvertently, he remembered Dié You had mentioned before in the shopping district that since he had already condensed his Wood Element, he could use it to nourish his Fire Spirit Fruit Trees.
If he could not discover the problem with this piece of land, he could at least use his Wood Element to nourish his trees, hopefully staving off any issues in advance. After all, if anything did happen in the future, he would have to take responsibility for it.
Finally finding something to do, Yang Kai happily came to the centre of his plot and immersed himself in his mind. His fingers formed a seal a moment later as he urged the power in his Dao Seal.
With Yang Kai as the centre, a wave of energy spread out in all directions. If one looked closely, the wave of energy had a faint emerald-green colour to it and was filled with rich vitality.
Unsure of how his Wood Element would affect the fruit trees, Yang Kai only tried his hand slightly, not daring to take drastic measures.
His little attempt did not worry him at first, but Yang Kai jumped abruptly a moment after he began because his small plot suddenly rumbled noisily. He stopped immediately and stretched his neck to look around. There were no changes in the fruit trees, but subtle movements were rustling from the corner of the orchard.
Yang Kai walked over and stopped in front of the three seedlings. At this moment, the soil around the roots of the three seedlings was undulating. The seedlings seemed to be growing, their developing roots causing the soil to roll and lurch.
After staring at the three seedlings for two hours, Yang Kai found that they had truly grown taller. Although it was not even a finger’s length, it was enough to attract attention.
[Is it because of the Immortal Tree?] Previously, Yang Kai had merged with the Immortal Tree in order to bring him back to life. Then, he condensed its Wood Element into his Dao Seal. In this way, the ability of resurrection was lost; however, his Dao Seal gained a supreme Wood Element, which would be of great help in his future cultivation.
As such, when he surged the Wood Element in his Dao Seal, it was equivalent to triggering the power of the Immortal Tree, so it was possible to promote the growth of the seedlings in just two hours.
This was an amazing feat. According to Old Fang, it took at least two to three hundred years for the Fire Spirit Fruit Tree to grow from a seedling to maturity, and only a fully grown fruit tree could blossom and bear fruit.
The three seedlings have been planted for less than ten years, and only grew slightly every year. However, if someone found out that they suddenly grew a finger’s length overnight, Yang Kai might draw trouble to himself.
Nevertheless, what was done was done. Yang Kai could not reverse their growth anyway, so he silently decided to pay extra attention to the three seedlings if he was going to do something similar again, so as to prevent them from being affected by his Wood Element.
Moreover, an additional finger’s length should not be noticed unless someone paid particularly close attention to them.
This was his plot of land after all and no one would come to check on them for no reason; therefore, for the time being, his situation should still be safe.
In fact, if it was possible, Yang Kai would like to release the two Wood Spirits, Mu Zhu and Mu Lu, to take care of the orchard. The Wood Spirit Clan was unrivalled when it came to this kind of job. With their care, Yang Kai could act as the arm-flinging shopkeeper he always was.
But it was inconvenient to do so. Not to mention that the orchard was accessible in all directions and people would pass by from time to time, Zhou Zheng would come to inspect occasionally too, as well as the Chief Manager who had yet to appear. If someone saw his two Wood Spirits, Yang Kai was afraid that he could not protect them with his current ability.
As such, it was just a passing thought, along with the thought of moving some Fire Spirit Fruit Trees into his medicine garden so that the two Wood Spirits could take care of them inside.
Squatting in front of the three seedlings, Yang Kai observed carefully for some time to make sure that the finger length height change would not attract anyone’s attention, only then did he feel a little relieved.
Before he could get up, however, he heard the sound of wings flapping, as well as a familiar aura approaching him. Yang Kai turned around, and almost laughed at the sight.
About a hundred metres above the ground, a golden rooster was flying unsteadily, trying notably hard to flap its wings. Not knowing whether it was bad at flying or just because it was too plump, Ruler of the Dawn Great General swayed up and down, and it looked as though it might fall at any time.
However, at this moment, the Ruler of the Dawn Great General was not as big as before. In fact, he even looked smaller than a normal rooster. He obviously used some Secret Technique to shrink himself.
After all, he was not a real chicken. Since he was the pet of the Venerable Protector, Great General must have some abilities of his own. Moreover, according to Yang Kai’s observation, Great General should possess some exotic bloodline and it just so happened that he looked like a rooster. Therefore, it did not really have much to do with the breed of chicken, and it was not surprising for him to have a grasp of some Secret Techniques.
Nevertheless, it was Yang Kai’s first time seeing him flying, and the way he flew was quite amusing.
The others in the orchard certainly noticed Great General too and in an instant, multiple streams of light shot towards him from the ground, causing Ruler of the Dawn Great General to be surrounded in the blink of an eye.
All of them saluted and bowed to him, and some even took the initiative to offer up Jade Fire Silkworms. Unfortunately for them, Great General ignored them and just flew ahead.
Seemingly annoyed by their fencing, Ruler of the Dawn Great General cock-a-doodle-dooed and flapped his two fat wings vigorously, like he was shooing them away.
Yang Kai was hugging his stomach by now, laughing hysterically as he enjoyed the scene above from below.
As if his laughter caused a chain reaction, for some reason, the Ruler of the Dawn Great General, who was flying forward, suddenly stopped, faced downward, and plummeted straight towards the ground. No matter how hard he flapped his wings, he had no way to stop himself.
Exclamations echoed, and everyone’s face changed drastically.
Yang Kai’s face was as black as the bottom of a pot as his smile hung stiffly on his face. Why? Because the damn chicken was falling directly into his plot.
Instantaneously, following a great squawk, Ruler of the Dawn Great General crashed headfirst into the ground ten metres in front of Yang Kai, his plump hips and wings twitching lightly.
Yang Kai was dumbstruck.
Everything happened so fast that he failed to react. He could have moved to stop Ruler of the Dawn Great General, but he was so dumbfounded he just watched him crash face-first into the dirt!
Looking up at the sky, a group of people were staring at him, but in the next moment, as if they had all agreed beforehand, they scattered, turning into streams of light and returning to their respective sites, hiding away. The originally bustling sky suddenly fell silent.
Yang Kai opened his mouth and cursed angrily, then turned around and wanted to leave as well, but this was his plot. The others had places to hide, but where could he go?
[This is bad.]
Although he did not do anything to the Ruler of the Dawn Great General, if something happened to the stupid chicken in his own territory, Yang Kai could guarantee that he would not see the sun rise tomorrow. It might not just be him as the people who had gathered around Great General earlier would not be able to escape punishment either.
Standing with a gloomy face, Yang Kai watched the stupid chicken twitch its wings while his face twitched too.
[Since this golden rooster possesses a special bloodline, he should be strong, and would not have suffered badly from such a fall, right?] Yang Kai comforted himself, went forward, and squatted in front of Ruler of the Dawn Great General, poking him with his finger.
Great General’s wings trembled even more violently, prompting Yang Kai to reach out and yank him out of the ground.
As soon as Great General was extricated from trouble, he flapped his wings violently, his beak transforming into a series of shadows that advanced towards Yang Kai.
Yang Kai instinctively slammed his palm forward.
Followed by a sorrowful crow, Great General was sent flying as several of his feathers fell off.
“Are you crazy? Why did you peck me? It wasn’t me who brought you down!” Yang Kai retorted angrily.
Great General’s eyes widened, as if he could not believe what just happened. He did not seem to expect that someone would dare to lay a hand on him in this Fire Spirit Land. Soon after, when he saw the several feathers falling from the sky, Great General was instantly enraged. He leapt a metre high off the ground and his chubby body radiated a dazzling golden light as he shot towards Yang Kai.
Initially, Yang Kai felt a little guilty for hitting him out of instinct earlier, but now that he saw Great General was still acting stubborn, his heart burned with anger and he cared no more. He immediately went forward to face Great General, surging his power in every palm strike, hitting the Ruler of the Dawn Great General until he squawked crazily.
Old Fang, who was not far away, was alarmed by the commotion. He did not know what the situation was, and hurriedly came to investigate, but his face turned pale as soon as he saw the scene and he immediately retreated, not daring to come back again.
In the orchard, two figures, one big and one small, crisscrossed back and forth as golden feathers flew about.
Yang Kai had to admit that, although the Ruler of the Dawn Great General looked silly, he was quite strong, on par with any Pseudo-Great Emperor back in the Star Boundary, and Yang Kai could feel that he had not given his all yet.
It was impossible that the pet of the Venerable Protector only knew the two skills, which were just pecking and scratching. Clearly Great General did not plan on using any Secret Technique in their altercation.
Since Great General held back, Yang Kai responded in kind. He could easily stop the silly chicken from getting close just by using his two fists anyway.
After two hours of fighting, Great General was probably exhausted and the golden feathers all over its body had grown dim. Spreading his wings open, he glared at Yang Kai fiercely, but dared not to approach anymore.
Yang Kai lifted his chin at him defiantly, and announced proudly, “This King has travelled the Heavens and Earth for many years. How dare a trivial chicken challenge this King!? You’re overreaching!”
The Ruler of the Dawn Great General was obviously maddened as he hopped up and down several times.
Yang Kai could feel that his opponent was being humiliated and unwilling to submit in defeat, and he could not help guffawing, “Get out of here now if you’re wise. If you dare to come at me again, don’t blame this King for being ruthless!” While speaking, he waved his big fist in front of the Great General.
Ruler of the Dawn Great General stared at him coldly before suddenly, his eyes flashed and he charged to the side.
Yang Kai frowned slightly as he wondered what this stupid chicken was up to now, but in the next moment, his face changed drastically and he roared, “You dare!?”
With a flicker, he appeared in front of Great General and launched a palm strike; however, Ruler of the Dawn Great General was prepared for this and leapt backwards, landing directly on a fruit tree and extending his neck to peck a scarlet Fire Spirit Fruit.
Yang Kai was infuriated. This damn chicken could not beat him in a fair fight, so he decided to deal with him through underhanded means, showing how vicious he could be.
There were several fruits nearby, and each one was counted and recorded meticulously. If any of these fruits were damaged by Great General, Yang Kai would not be able to explain to Zhou Zheng at all. By that time, instead of this stupid chicken, he was the one who would be punished.
Ignoring the barriers of space, Yang Kai reached out his hand and grabbed Ruler of the Dawn Great General by the neck before drawing him in front of him.
Yang Kai glared at him furiously and said coldly, “Do you want to die?”
The Ruler of the Dawn Great General stared into his eyes fearlessly, his gaze still wandering between Yang Kai and the fruit tree. Its answer was truly obvious, it was daring Yang Kai to kill him, otherwise, he would destroy his fruits.
Yang Kai was speechless…
Although he had a fight with this stupid chicken, he actually did not really dare to harm him; after all, Great General was the pet of the Venerable Protector. If he killed him, Yang Kai would suffer dire consequences.
But holding onto Great General all the time was not a solution. After pondering for a while, Yang Kai decided to take a step back, “I won’t argue with you about this anymore. It’s none of my business that you fell down, but rather due to your own carelessness. If you want to find someone to blame, you can blame those guys who boxed you in. I’ll let you go now, so please just leave. Let’s just forget this incident and pretend nothing happened just now. If you agree with me, blink once.”
The Ruler of the Dawn Great General blinked…
Yang Kai nodded, “Don’t try to play tricks with me!”
Yang Kai released his grip slowly, but as soon as the Ruler of the Dawn Great General was out of his grasp, he charged straight to the closest fruit tree.
Yang Kai grabbed it back and chuckled gloomily, “It seems that you really don’t know how to write the word ‘death’!”