As they stared into each other’s eyes, the Proprietress’ heart finally softened and she sighed, “What’s the point of doing this?”
Yue He bit her lip as even more tears stained her face.
The Proprietress reached out and stroked the other woman’s head, “All those years ago, I brought you back and raised you. Your life belongs to me. Without my permission, no one can kill you, including yourself!”
With her head hanging low, Yue He said in a trembling voice, “Yes.”
The Proprietress slightly surged her World Force, whereupon Yue He groaned and collapsed to the ground. She had passed out while Yang Kai widened his eyes as he was still reeling from the shock.
If the Proprietress hadn’t made a move just now, Yue He would have lost her life right in front of him. He had been in contact with her for more than ten years in the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary and while he used to be annoyed with her and wanted nothing more than to get rid of her, eventually, they grew to support each other as they went through countless difficulties. However, even after more than ten years of contact with her, Yang Kai had never realised how determined and resolute Yue He was.
Although the Proprietress had calmed her down by knocking her out, there was still a troublesome issue, which was her heart demon oath.
As long as Yue He and her Small Orchid Palace existed, there was no way the heart demon oath could be resolved, and the Proprietress would never have the chance to ascend to the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm. It wasn’t certain whether Yue He would attempt to end her own life again after she awakened.
Following a sigh, the Proprietress carried Yue He up and stepped into a room in the hall before placing her on a bed. Yang Kai and Bai Qi followed her without saying a word.
As the Proprietress gazed at the woman on the bed, her expression gradually softened. She even started humming a lullaby as though she was trying to lull a baby to sleep. She placed one hand on Yue He and gently tapped her following the rhythm.
Yang Kai and Bai Qi traded glances as they felt speechless at that. A moment later, the Proprietress waved her hand at them. Getting the hint, they left together.
After leaving the inner hall, Bai Qi immediately wrapped his arm around Yang Kai’s shoulder and winked at him, “Let’s grab a drink.”
Yang Kai guffawed and replied in agreement, “Good.”
Bai Qi could be considered the first true friend he made after arriving in the 3,000 Worlds. Old Fang wasn’t the first because when they got to know each other in Seven Wonders Land in the past, they had their own ulterior motives, so their intentions were not pure.
When they were still in First Inn in the Star City, Yang Kai and Bai Qi would frequently drink until late at night, so they were already familiar with it.
After walking for a bit, they stopped in the Grand Hall and took a seat on the ground. While Yang Kai didn’t have any good wine with him, Bai Qi seemed to possess many wine bottles of extremely high quality.
Yang Kai fished out a lot of spirit fruits from his Space Ring, many of which were local products from the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary that amazed Bai Qi.
They went on to drink excessively and it wasn’t long before they became completely smashed.
It was two days later when the Proprietress and Yue He left the inner hall. Looking around, they realised that the Grand Hall was a mess as the ground was covered in wine bottles and fruit pits while a pungent smell of alcohol permeated the air.
Yang Kai and Bai Qi were lying on the ground with their limbs spread wide. Their snoring was deafening.
A furious Proprietress glared at them and said through clenched teeth, “Wake them up!”
Yue He hurriedly stepped forward and performed a hand seal. After activating her power, she let out a breath at them. Following that, a breeze whisked through the men on the ground, which caused them to shudder and slowly open their eyes.
Feeling an excruciating pain in his head, Yang Kai slowly sat up and rubbed his forehead. He sported a helpless smile and thought that he had overindulged this time. Since the closure of the Primordial Land, he had always been tense. The Proprietress’ arrival gave him a great sense of security, which was why he could finally unwind.
After circulating his strength to sober himself up, he raised his head and saw Yue He looking worriedly at him.
An elated Yang Kai got up and said, “Yue He, you’re awake.”
Imperceptibly, Yue He nodded and pointed at the Proprietress in front of her.
Yang Kai turned his head, only to see that the Proprietress was glaring at him with a cold expression, which caused his neck to shrink instinctively before he stood beside Bai Qi. Both of them sported fawning smiles.
“When will you two ever grow up?” The Proprietress appeared completely disappointed.
They hurriedly said in unison, “We’re sorry. We won’t do it again.”
The Proprietress batted her eyes as she felt like she had just landed a punch on a pile of cotton. Then, she said through gritted teeth, “If this happens again, I’ll drown you two in a pool of wine!”
Both of them nodded repeatedly. Standing behind the Proprietress, Yue He covered her mouth and giggled.
Yang Kai took a glance at her, and upon seeing that life had returned to her face, he let out a sigh of relief. When he was drinking with Bai Qi earlier, he asked him about Yue He’s past. Not daring to reveal too much information, Bai Qi only told him that Yue He was an orphan brought home and raised by the Proprietress, who also taught her cultivation. It could be said that the Proprietress was just like her Mother and Elder Sister.
Besides Yue He, Bai Qi, the chef, and the accountant were also close to the Proprietress. Nevertheless, Yue He had stayed with the Proprietress for a longer time than any of them.
As for why they had fallen out, Bai Qi wouldn’t reveal it even though he was drunk. He wasn’t in any position to speak about this, so he told Yang Kai to personally ask the Proprietress about it.
Certainly, Yang Kai didn’t have the guts to do that. If he really asked such a question, he’d be beaten.
“Grandmaster Wu Liang already has some ideas on how to repair the Grand Array, but he needs you to consult with him first. Come with me,” the Proprietress said and led the way.
Hurriedly, Yang Kai followed her.
Soon, the four of them saw Grandmaster Wu Liang again together with Lu Xue. Over the past two days, Lu Xue had followed him to tour Void Land and seen the skills of this Spirit Array Grandmaster, which were truly admirable. The person invited by the Proprietress was indeed skilful.
After they met, the Proprietress greeted Grandmaster Wu Liang, who stroked his beard and said in a proud manner, “Madam Lan, I’ve examined the Grand Array around this place and have three proposals for you to choose from.”
There was a faint smile on the Proprietress’ face, “Grandmaster, this place doesn’t belong to me or Fist Inn. The owner is my shop hand, so he’ll be the one choosing from the options.”
Yang Kai stepped forward and said politely, “Grandmaster, please tell me more about your proposals.”
Grandmaster Wu Liang gave him a look and announced, “The first proposal will require the shortest time and least materials and involves repairing the Grand Array.”
Yang Kai raised his brow; after all, they had practically invited the old man to do just that. Suppressing his doubts, he asked, “What are the other two proposals?”
Grandmaster Wu Liang went on to say, “The second proposal is that this Old Master upgrades the Grand Array. I have the confidence to improve its power by 20%; however, compared to the first proposal, this one will require more time and carry a greater cost. I estimate that the cost will be double that of the first proposal.”
Yang Kai’s eyes brightened when he heard that.
The Grand Array around Void Land was the same one as when this place was called Seven Wonders Land. Yang Kai had witnessed the power of the Grand Array. In the past, Xu Huang made use of the Grand Array to wage war against several Mid-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters in Seven Wonders Land on his own, managing to severely injure Qi Qiao and kill three Venerable Protectors. His success was thanks to the Grand Array.
Now, Grandmaster Wu Liang said that he could increase the power of the Grand Array by 20%. How skilled must this old man be in the Dao of Spirit Arrays to be able to achieve that? Was he just boasting? After all, it wasn’t easy to upgrade such a large Spirit Array.
Then, Yang Kai turned to look at the Proprietress, who imperceptibly nodded. It was apparent that she had faith in Grandmaster Wu Liang’s capabilities.
It was then Yang Kai set his mind at ease and asked, “What about the third proposal?”
After giving it a thought, Grandmaster Wu Liang replied, “The third proposal is that, while using the foundation of this Grand Array, this Old Master will completely rearrange it. This will take the longest time, and the cost will be five times more than the first proposal at least. Doing this will allow the Grand Array’s power to be increased by 50%.”
The cost of the second proposal was double that of the first one, and the power could be increased by 20%. On the other hand, the third proposal was five times more expensive than the first one, but the power could only be increased by 50%.
There was no doubt that the second proposal was a much better deal than the third one; however, the Grand Array was the first and greatest layer of protection for this place, so direct cost wasn’t the only consideration. Moreover, it was only natural for a more powerful Grand Array to be more expensive.
Yang Kai intended to bring all his friends and family from the Star Boundary to this place, so he had to build a safe environment for them. By the time he brought them here, he certainly wouldn’t have the means to protect them all himself, but by improving the Grand Array, in a time of crisis, they would have the means to protect themselves.
Therefore, Yang Kai made a decision without hesitation, “I’ll choose the third proposal. Grandmaster, please start working on it now.”
A shocked Grandmaster Wu Liang sized the young man up and asked just to confirm, “Brat, do you understand how expensive it is to repair this Grand Array alone?”
In his eyes, Yang Kai was just an Emperor Realm boy who took control of this place by chance, so there was no way he was that wealthy. To just repair a Grand Array of this scale was beyond the ability of most Third Class great forces to afford, not to mention a mere Emperor Realm Junior.
With a faint smile, the Proprietress said, “Grandmaster, rest assured. My shop hand made a great fortune some time ago, so he should be able to afford it. Just go with the third proposal.”
She had learned from Lu Xue about what Yang Kai had gone through in the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary, so she was fully aware that he was filthy rich now; after all, the wealth those from Scarlet Star had amassed in the Boundary was all taken away by him.
The cost of repairing the Grand Array was probably just some small change to the current Yang Kai, so five times of that was nothing to him.
Grandmaster Wu Liang took a glance at the Proprietress and then Yang Kai, thinking that this boy had the full support of Madam Lan. Even if he didn’t have enough money, Madam Lan would lend him a hand. As such, Grandmaster Wu Liang nodded, “In that case, we’ll go with the third proposal. But, before that, this Old Master must talk about remuneration.”
“Please go ahead, Grandmaster,” Yang Kai said politely.
A moment later, they came to an agreement. It had to be said that it cost a lot of money to invite such a Grandmaster to work on the Grand Array. His remuneration wasn’t fixed and instead would be based on the cost of upgrading the Grand Array.
Grandmaster Wu Liang would take 20% of the total repair and upgrade cost. In other words, regardless of the cost to upgrade the Grand Array, he would want twenty percent of that.
Apparently, the Proprietress was aware of this kind of practice, so she didn’t say anything.
The fact that Yang Kai had chosen the third proposal was beneficial to Grandmaster Wu Liang as well. That was because the higher the cost to upgrade the Grand Array, the more benefits he would get; therefore, he was more than happy that Yang Kai had chosen the third option.
The price was rather outrageous, but if Grandmaster Wu Liang could really achieve what he claimed, Yang Kai didn’t mind paying the price.
“I have a list here. Get the materials on this list ready as soon as possible.” Grandmaster Wu Liang fished out an empty jade slip and wrote down the list before passing it to Yang Kai.
After taking a glance, Yang Kai was stunned.
There were probably over 10,000 different types of materials on the list, most of which he had never even heard of before; after all, it had only been a short time since he arrived in the Outer Universe, so his knowledge wasn’t that broad.
Nevertheless, there were some materials that he already possessed. Be it the wealth those from Scarlet Star had amassed in the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary or the secret storehouse in Seven Wonders Land, there were many materials in Yang Kai’s possession that could be put to use.
The next moment, Yang Kai passed the list to Yue He and let her deal with it.
Then, he decided to hold a banquet for the Proprietress and Grandmaster Wu Liang. The people from the Third Class great forces, who had come to help, became busy and got the banquet ready in a short while.
After they were all seated, they started drinking and chatting. The atmosphere was pleasant.
A few days later, Lu Xue and Bai Qi shot into the sky and passed through the gap in the Grand Array before disappearing.
They were going to the local Star Cities to buy the materials for upgrading the Grand Array. Although Yang Kai had many usable resources on hand, he didn’t have everything necessary; therefore, they had to purchase some materials from the Star Cities.
There was a Star City in Seven Wonder Territory that was neither big nor small, aptly classified as a medium-sized Star City. After all, Seven Wonders Land was just a Second Class great force.
As long as a Great Territory wasn’t in a remote location, it normally had a Star City which was correlated to the strongest great force.
For example, the Star Cities in the Great Territories of the Cave-Heavens and Paradises were expansive while the Star City in the same Great Territory as Great Moon Province was a small one.
Lu Xue and Bai Qi parted ways. She went to the Star City in this Great Territory while he was heading to a large-scale Star City. The Star Cities were far away, so it would probably take them a couple of months before they could return to Void Land.
On the other hand, Grandmaster Wu Liang wasn’t doing nothing. He made use of the materials at hand and started working on the Grand Array.
The disciples from Golden Light Dock were assigned to assist him. Although there were already many people, they were still not enough. A few days later, the Great Emperors from the more than ten Universe Worlds controlled by Void Land arrived and brought more than several hundred people with them, which solved the most pressing labour issue.
The entire Void Land was bustling now.
Without hesitation, Yang Kai gave out the resources in his possession to be used on the Grand Array.
Half a month later, Chen Tian Fei returned to Void Land. Previously, he had received Yang Kai’s order and escorted Meng Hong and the others back to Great Moon Province. It wasn’t until they all entered their Headquarters that he came back.
Seeing the Proprietress, the fatty respectfully saluted her. It was then he realised that Yang Kai wasn’t bluffing when the latter said that he was from First Inn.
Chen Tian Fei had heard a lot about this legendary woman, and upon seeing her, he realised that she indeed lived up to her name.
He also brought back some news regarding Old Fang and the others. After they joined Great Moon Province, they started cultivating diligently, and their lives were all good now. The atmosphere in Great Moon Province was pleasant and although they joined at a later time, they were not oppressed in any way. When Chen Tian Fei escorted Meng Hong and the others back to the Province, he was hospitably greeted by Great Moon True Monarch.
It couldn’t be helped, as Great Moon True Monarch was only a Third-Order Open Heaven Realm Master. Faced with Chen Tian Fei, a Fourth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, he felt pressured.
Then, Yang Kai let him take a rest for a day before he was assigned to assist Grandmaster Wu Liang.
As time passed, the Grand Array gradually began to take shape. Two months later, Lu Xue and Bai Qi respectively returned and brought back the resources needed to reform the Grand Array, which allowed Grandmaster Wu Liang to work even faster.
One day, Yang Kai clenched a jade slip and infused his Divine Sense into it. After going through it for a long time, he retracted his Divine Sense and said joyfully, “Proprietress, the Grandmaster you’ve found is indeed incredible.”
There was a smile on the Proprietress’ face, “Although Grandmaster Wu Liang is just a Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, fewer than a thousand people in the 3,000 Worlds can surpass him when it comes to the Dao of Arrays.”
If she wasn’t certain about his capabilities, she wouldn’t have invited him to help with repairing the Grand Array.
The 3,000 Worlds was vast, so there were many people who were skilled in the Dao of Arrays, but while 1,000 people might sound like a large figure, considering the countless people who cultivated the Dao of Arrays, it was actually quite amazing to be ranked amongst the top thousand.
After taking the jade slip from Yang Kai, the Proprietress took a glance and arched her brow, “Nine Heavenly Layers?”
Grandmaster Wu Liang had told someone to send the jade slip to them. It contained information regarding his proposed plan for the Grand Array. He named this Grand Array around Void Land the Nine Heavenly Layers.
This kind of Grand Array was simply inconceivable to Yang Kai as he had never seen or heard about anything like it before. If it could be successfully arranged, Void Land would be so secure that even a High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters would fail if he attempted to invade.
The Proprietress pursed her lips and looked smilingly at Yang Kai, “He must have realised that you’re incredibly wealthy, so he’s made some modifications to the Grand Array. If it’s successfully constructed, the power will increase by far more than fifty percent.”
Yang Kai nodded in agreement. Recently, Grandmaster Wu Liang had become more amiable to him, unlike how aloof he was when they first met.
That was because Yang Kai had given him absolute freedom to do whatever he wanted.
To a Spirit Array Grandmaster, there was nothing more exciting in the world than materialising the Grand Array he had envisioned for a long time. It had been over 1,000 years since he first conceived of the Nine Heavenly Layers Grand Array, but unfortunately, no great force could let him realise his dream.
Over the years, many great forces had invited him to their Headquarters, but they just needed him to repair the Grand Arrays they already had. That was because too many resources were required to build the Nine Heavenly Layers.
Nevertheless, Yang Kai could help him realise his dream.
Over the past two months, he found out that whatever materials he needed, Yang Kai could always produce, and there were no restrictions imposed at all. Regarding the Grand Array, he could do as he pleased.
Hence, there was nothing worth hesitating about. The Nine Heavenly Layers was the best Grand Array he had ever come up with, and he was glad that he could arrange it right here in Void Land.
Therefore, recently, he became extremely fervent when it came to arranging the Grand Array as he worked around the clock. The thousands of people who had come to Void Land to help were constantly being ordered around by the Grandmaster, to the point they didn’t have any time to rest.
However, in order to arrange the Nine Heavenly Layers, he needed Yang Kai’s support; after all, too many resources were required, and the cost would be much higher than the third proposal he had come up with some time ago.
In order to persuade Yang Kai into agreeing to it, Grandmaster Wu Liang not only explained to the former the benefits and strengths of Nine Heavenly Layers, but also lowered his remuneration. He said that if this Grand Array was successfully built, he would only take 10% of the cost as his pay, a special favour to entice Yang Kai to agree.
It had to be noted that it had been years since he set his price at 20%. He had arranged Grand Arrays for more than one Second Class great force and had even worked for some Paradises and Cave-Heavens in the past, but he had never offered a single discount before.
However, on this day, he made such a concession to Yang Kai, a mere Emperor Realm Junior, which went to show how determined and eager he was to construct the Nine Heavenly Layers.
“What do you think?” The Proprietress gazed at him.
Yang Kai asked, “Well, what do you think?”
The Proprietress smiled faintly, “It’s your place, so why are you asking me? I don’t have any opinion.”
After a nod, Yang Kai went through the information in the jade slip again and replied to Grandmaster Wu Liang, “I accept.”
Yang Kai wanted the best possible Grand Array for Void Land. While Grandmaster Wu Liang was eager to set up the Nine Heavenly Layers, Yang Kai was also moved by the proposed Grand Array’s power.
In Yin Spirit Land, Grandmaster Wu Liang suddenly looked up at the sky and let out a hearty laugh. Chen Tian Fei was shocked upon seeing that, wondering what had gotten into this old man.
In the Grand Hall of Earth Spirit Land, Yue He took a look at the jade slip and became stunned, “Young Master, in order to build the Nine Heavenly Layers, you not only need a lot of resources but also many, many artifacts!”
Yang Kai nodded his head, “That’s right, but I already have many artifacts that can be used to increase the Grand Array’s power. The issue is finding a few particularly powerful artifacts to serve as the Array Nodes.”
He had many artifacts of various kinds; after all, he had picked up several tens of thousands of Space Rings in the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary, and every ring contained artifacts; however, the quality of the artifacts varied. They could be used to increase the Grand Array’s power, but not as Array Nodes.
Just like its name suggested, the Nine Heavenly Layers Grand Array, once arranged, would have nine layers. It combined defence, concealment, and attack in the same Grand Array. Every layer was connected with each other and mutually supportive. If a person wanted to enter Void Land, they would have to break through all nine layers of this Grand Array first.
This kind of Grand Array, even if it wasn’t as good as those of the Cave-Heavens and Paradises, wasn’t far off from them. In the 3,000 Worlds, no Second Class great force had a Grand Array that was comparable to this.
The first three layers were all Auxiliary Arrays which could help the Grand Array continuously absorb the Power of the Stars to reduce its consumption of energy. This was very useful; after all, once the Nine Heavenly Layers began operating, it would naturally consume lots of power. Although Yang Kai was extremely wealthy, he couldn’t support such consumption in the long term. With the first three layers, they could help the Grand Array collect and store energy and release it when it was needed to reduce consumption.
It also came with some self-repairing capabilities. As long as the Grand Array wasn’t severely damaged, it didn’t have to be patched. The Grand Array would heal on its own.
The three middle layers were all Defensive Arrays. The first was for concealment and once it started running, it could make Void Land disappear from sight. Unless a person had powerful means to look for it, no one could find its whereabouts. The second layer was a powerful Illusion and Bewilderment Array. Once a cultivator entered the array, he would start hallucinating. Yang Kai already had some ideas on what to use as Array Nodes for both concealment and hallucinatory purposes, so he didn’t have to think about them for now. There was also a layer that was purely for protection. For this layer, he needed to look for a powerful defensive artifact to be used as the Array Node.
The last three layers were the Killing Arrays, each of which was extremely powerful. They needed mighty killing artifacts to be used as the Array Nodes. Yang Kai already had two such artifacts, but he needed one more.
Every layer of the Nine Heavenly Layers was useful on its own, and when they were all interconnected, they became even more powerful. Grandmaster Wu Liang, who had invented the Nine Heavenly Layers, was truly talented and awe-inspiring.
Yang Kai was looking forward to the day when the Nine Heavenly Layers were completed; however, now, he had to look for some powerful artifacts first. Otherwise, even if the Grand Array was completed, it wouldn’t be fully functional.
After some calculations, he realised that he needed at least one defensive artifact and one killing artifact. Those were the minimum requirements. The more artifacts he could get, the more powerful the Grand Array would be.
[It’ll cost me an arm and a leg!] Yang Kai thought.
A few days later, three people shot out of Void Land through the gap in the Grand Array. They were none other than Yang Kai, the Proprietress, and Yue He.
On the ground, Chen Tian Fei, Lu Xue, Guo Zi Yan, and the others respectfully saw them off.
Yang Kai needed to look for the artifacts that could be used as Array Nodes for the Grand Array, and he could only seek the Proprietress’ help and asked her to introduce some Grandmaster Artifact Refiners to him.
He was basically a newcomer to the 3,000 Worlds, so he had no idea where he could find such people. Certainly, the Cave-Heavens and Paradises had such Grandmasters, but Yang Kai wasn’t familiar with them, and they might not even welcome him to begin with.
Initially, he only intended to set off on the journey with the Proprietress, but she insisted on bringing Yue He with her.
Yang Kai didn’t understand her decision. He wanted to make Yue He stay in Void Land, but since the Proprietress insisted, he just let her be. Fortunately, even though the defence of Void Land was weak, Zhu Jiu Yin was around.
He told her to take good care of Void Land and trusted that she would do her best. She hadn’t returned to the peak of her power yet, and it would take her a long time to adapt to the World Principles in the outside world; however, if she got into a fight, most Mid-Rank cultivators would be no match for her.
Anyway, no sensible people would make a fuss in Void Land at this point.
Firstly, the trio went to the Universe Temple in Void Territory so that Yang Kai could leave his Soul Imprint there. In the future, he could save some time when travelling around by using the Universe Transference Law.
After leaving the Universe Temple, the Proprietress summoned her ship, whereupon they boarded and shot forward at full speed.
They went on to pass through several Great Territories until one day, the Proprietress stored the ship after they arrived at a certain place.
“Have we arrived at our destination?” Yang Kai asked.
Without replying to him, the Proprietress looked smilingly at Yue He.
Presently, Yue He’s face was a little pale as she looked bashfully at her, “Big Sister… I was the one who made the mistake. Please punish only me and do not drag others into this. Big Sister, please have mercy on them.”
Upon finishing her words, she was ready to kneel.
The Proprietress, however, held her up and said with a faint smile, “What are you doing? What do you think I’m going to do by bringing you to this place?”
Gazing at her, Yue He said, “Big Sister, aren’t you here to… fulfil the heart demon oath?”
“Heart demon oath?” Yang Kai was shocked upon hearing that. Why was the heart demon oath mentioned all of a sudden? Previously in Void Land, because of the heart demon oath, Yue He almost killed herself. Fortunately, the Proprietress stopped her in time.
Recently, the women had been getting along well, and there didn’t seem to be any grudges between them anymore, so Yang Kai thought that this matter was settled, but at the mention of the heart demon oath now, he had a bad premonition.
After a nod, the Proprietress replied, “A heart demon oath is unresolvable, so it must be fulfilled. But… there are ways to work around it. Come with me.”
Then, she led the way for them. After trading glances, Yang Kai and Yue He hurriedly followed her.
On the way to their destination, Yang Kai fished out a Universe Chart and realised that, just like what he had speculated, they were now in Small Orchid Territory. In this Great Territory, there was a Second Class great force that couldn’t really be considered Second Class, which was Yue He’s Small Orchid Palace.
There was only one Open Heaven Realm Master in this great force, who was none other than Yue He. The rest were all below the Open Heaven Realm.
Therefore, Small Orchid Palace was regarded as a Second Class great force because Yue He was its Leader, but at the same time, it lacked the heritage of a true Second Class great force.
With that said, Small Orchid Territory was indeed named after Small Orchid Palace.
[What is Proprietress planning to do?] Yang Kai was slightly worried, but at the same time, he had a feeling that she wouldn’t do anything terrible.
A moment later, they arrived at Small Orchid Palace. It was a Spirit Province where the land mass was small and the foundations were weak. Yue He had managed this place for a thousand years, but she had done so all on her own and hadn’t put in a lot of effort into building it up.
The three of them stopped in the periphery of Small Orchid Palace and the Proprietress said, “Tell all of your people to come out.”
With her lips pressed together, Yue He nodded and flew down before disappearing.
Yang Kai turned to look at the Proprietress. He wanted to know what she was going to do, but he couldn’t bring himself to ask such a question, so he could only wait patiently.
Soon, figures were seen flying out of the Palace. With Yue He leading the way, about two or three thousand came over and hovered in the void. This kind of figure was pretty embarrassing for a Second Class great force. Nevertheless, Yue He didn’t found Small Orchid Palace to develop it into a mighty power. She just wanted a place to stay and these people were simply brought back to the Palace by her over the years as a kind of charity work, so they were not really her subordinates.
The cultivation of these people varied, and there was only a small number in the Emperor Realm. Yue He had to use her own power to protect them so that they could survive in the void.
“Big Sister, everyone is present,” Yue He said in a hushed voice and lowered her head. She seemed ready to receive her punishment.
The Proprietress nodded gently and raised her hand. As the aura of World Force undulated, she parted her lips and said, “In the past, outside of the Sealing Yang Domain, this Queen made a heart demon oath. As long as this oath isn’t resolved, I will never be able to ascend to the Seventh Order. Xiao He’er, today, this Queen will settle the grudge with you!”
Then, she pushed out her slender hand. Following her move, the Grand Array around Small Orchid Palace started cracking, as though it would collapse at any moment.
“What are you doing?!”
“Stop!”
“This woman is trying to destroy our home! We must fight!”
The disciples of Small Orchid Palace behind Yue He widened their eyes and howled. Despite the fact that the Proprietress appeared imposing, and it was apparent that she was extremely powerful, these people didn’t seem to be afraid of her. Their eyes had reddened, and they were ready to risk their lives to fight it out with her.
Fortunately, Yue He did her best to stop them from making a fuss.
“All of you shut up!” Yue He bellowed. These people wouldn’t dare to disobey her order, so upon hearing that, all of them fell silent despite the fact that they were still furious. They glared at the Proprietress, as though they were eager to skin her alive.
The might of the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm burst out and shattered the Grand Array around Small Orchid Palace.
Although the Grand Array was pretty powerful, Yue He didn’t really put much effort into reinforcing it; after all, the heritage of Small Orchid Palace was too weak. Otherwise, the Grand Array of a Second Class great force wouldn’t have been destroyed so easily.
After the Grand Array collapsed, Small Orchid Palace was completely exposed.
Following a boom, the Spirit Province where Small Orchid Palace was located shook and the Proprietress retracted her hand and straightened up.
“Small Orchid Palace has been destroyed. Xiao He’er, bring all of them to settle down in Void Land. Yang Kai’s place is vast enough to accommodate them,” The Proprietress turned around and looked smilingly at Yue He.
Behind her, the Spirit Province shattered as its fragments scattered in all directions. In the blink of an eye, the entire Small Orchid Palace was gone.
“Many thanks for showing mercy, Big Sister!” Yue He’s eyes were slightly reddened. It wasn’t because her Palace was destroyed, but because the knot in her heart was finally untied.
“Let’s go,” The Proprietress swung her sleeve and wrapped her power around Yang Kai before shooting into the distance.
Yang Kai turned his head and waved his hand at Yue He.
Since the cultivation of her people varied so widely, it would be extremely difficult for them to travel across the void of the Outer Universe. With that said, Yue He was a Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, so she wouldn’t have trouble sheltering them.
It was then that Yang Kai understood why the Proprietress insisted on bringing Yue He with them. This was what she had intended to do all along.
She once swore that if she couldn’t trample flat the Headquarters of the people who had ambushed her, she would never ascend to the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm in her lifetime.
The stern voice of the Proprietress on that day still seemed to be reverberating in Yang Kai’s ears, but at that instant, he couldn’t help but smile helplessly. He always thought that the oath was made in rage and was deathly serious, but now, it seemed that when she made the oath on that day, the Proprietress had already ensured there was a way out of it.
When she said that she would destroy the Headquarters of those people, she didn’t mean she would exterminate their great force. Yang Kai always thought that Yue He would have to lose her life before the oath could be resolved, so he had been worried for quite some time; but now, it seemed that even in that kind of situation, the Proprietress still never had the intention of killing Yue He. The loophole in the oath was prepared for this day.
After Small Orchid Palace was destroyed, the oath had nothing to do with Yue He anymore. Furthermore, without the Palace, Yue He would have nowhere to go, so she was bound to head to Void Land.
Yang Kai was happy with the outcome. Even without the incident on this day, he would still have done everything he could to persuade Yue He to move everyone from her Small Orchid Palace to Void Land, and he believed that she wouldn’t reject him.
The Proprietress just happened to seize the chance and resolved her heart demon oath, which helped achieve the outcome he desired.
“What’s so amusing,” The Proprietress suddenly shot him a glance.
With a straight face, Yang Kai said, “You’re such a kind-hearted person.”
“Stop trying to flatter me, it’s disgusting!” The Proprietress directly landed a fist on his forehead.
Yang Kai quickly covered his head and yelled, “Why did you hit me? A man’s head is just like a woman’s backside; it can’t be touched lightly!”
The Proprietress snorted, “I haven’t settled accounts with you yet. So what if I hit you a bit?”
Upon finishing her words, she raised her leg.
The unsuspecting Yang Kai was sent flying away as he bellowed, “You… How can you lay a hand on me whenever you’re unhappy? You crazy woman!”
Suddenly, a cold glint flashed through the Proprietress’ eyes as she gnashed her teeth.
Yang Kai felt cold all of a sudden as he shrank his neck and darted his gaze around. Just when he was ready to manipulate Space Principles to flee, he realised that the space around him had already been sealed off.
There was a faint smile on the Proprietress’ face as she lightly stepped towards him, “Do you think I’ll give you a chance to flee?”
Yang Kai hurriedly stepped backwards and said in a grim voice, “Let’s just talk it out and not resort to such barbaric methods. How old do you think you are? Not again!” As he spoke, he quickly reached out to grasp her foot that was about to reach him. Her ankle felt soft and smooth, but before he could properly enjoy the sensation, the Proprietress flipped around and landed a kick on his chin with her other leg.
As her dress whisked across his face, he started seeing stars, and he was sent flying away again.
A furious Yang Kai thought that it had just been a short time since they reunited, but the Proprietress had already beaten him up twice. He secretly swore that when he ascended to the Open Heaven Realm one day, he would make this woman pay, with interest!
“Are you angry?” The Proprietress and Yang Kai were moving forward in the void as she stroked his head.
A battered and bruised Yang Kai lowered his head and sighed, “I wouldn’t dare to.” If getting mad was useful at all, there would be no point in cultivating.
In response, the Proprietress giggled.
With a bitter expression, Yang Kai said, “Proprietress, if there’s any issue in the future, can you just talk it out with me instead of resorting to fists?” Then, he pulled her hand away from his head.
Suppressing her laughter, the Proprietress replied, “Good. Now, there’s something I need to ask you about, and you’d better answer me honestly.”
“Go ahead.” Yang Kai nodded repeatedly.
Suddenly, the Proprietress turned solemn and asked in a grim voice, “What is the Order of your Fire Element Power?”
After a moment of silence, Yang Kai replied, “It should be at or above Seventh Order.”
He couldn’t hide it any longer as the moment he used his Golden Crow Casts the Sun Divine Manifestation in Scarlet Star’s Star City, this was no longer a secret. That was because there were harsh conditions to be met in order to use a Divine Manifestation. It required a Seventh-Order Element Power at the very least or for a High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters to master one of their Elements. In other words, Divine Manifestations were exclusive to High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters.
However, that didn’t mean all High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters could definitely comprehend a Divine Manifestation. Some would never understand the abstrusity of a Manifestation in their lifetime.
Since time immemorial, no Emperor Realm cultivator had ever comprehended a Divine Manifestation.
Zhao Bai Chuan was amazed when he saw ‘Golden Crow Casts the Sun’, and he claimed that with this Divine Manifestation, despite the fact that Yang Kai was just an Emperor Realm Junior, he would be capable of battling Low-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters.
The gap between the Emperor Realm and the Open Heaven Realm was no different from the gap between the Heavens and Earth. An Open Heaven Realm Master, even if he was just the lowest First-Order, had formed a Small Universe in their body and was capable of using World Force. Killing an Emperor Realm cultivator for such a Master was as easy as going for a stroll in their backyard.
Below the Emperor Realm, Yang Kai could always fight against opponents in higher realms, but even at the peak of the Emperor Realm, he could not even fight with Open Heaven Realm Masters.
However, with his Divine Manifestation, it was now possible.
Many people had seen him use the Divine Manifestation on that day, and after the closure of the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary, this news would definitely be spread. It wouldn’t have mattered if the Proprietress didn’t ask about it, but now that she wanted to know, Yang Kai wouldn’t hide it from her.
“Golden Crow Casts the Sun!” The Proprietress grinned meaningfully, “I heard that your Fire Element Power is the Golden Crow’s True Fire?”
“Uh… en. It’s exactly the Golden Crow’s True Fire.” A guilty Yang Kai kept scratching his cheek.
“I’m curious. As an Emperor Realm Junior, how were you able to obtain the Golden Crow’s True Fire?” The Proprietress stared fixedly at him and ground her teeth, “If I’m not mistaken, it hasn’t been a long time since you arrived in the 3,000 Worlds, and your only encounter with the Golden Crow’s True Fire was in First Inn. Do you mean to tell me that you absorbed the power of the Golden Crow carcass during that time?”
Yang Kai turned his head and forced a smile at her.
In an instant, the Proprietress’ expression turned livid as she roared, “How dare you!”
His silence meant that he admitted it.
“Do you enjoy courting death!?” The Proprietress was both angry and shocked. At that time, there were several High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters as well as several dozen Mid-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters vying for that prize. How did Yang Kai have the guts to absorb the Golden Crow’s True Fire when they were literally watching him? More importantly, he actually succeeded!
With a serious expression, she said, “The Golden Crow’s True Fire is immensely powerful, and it can only be constrained by an equally powerful Wood Element Power. Since you were able to absorb the Golden Crow’s True Fire, does that mean that you have already condensed a High-Rank Wood Element Power?”
“Proprietress is indeed beautiful and intelligent!” Yang Kai gave her a thumbs-up.
The brow of the Proprietress twitched as she muttered, “High-Rank Wood and Fire Elements… What else? Have you gotten any rewards in the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary? Have you condensed any other Powers? Earth? Metal?”
“En, both the Earth and Water Elements,” Yang Kai replied honestly.
“Earth and… Water?” The Proprietress appeared doubtful, “How were you able to condense your Water Element Power when you don’t have a Metal Element Power?”
“It’s a long story, but suffice it to say, I used a Secret Technique to skip the Metal Element Power and directly condense my Water Element Power.”
The Proprietress was both shocked and doubtful, “Show me your Earth and Water Elements.”
Unable to reject her, Yang Kai subsequently activated his Earth and Water Element Powers in his Dao Seal. Firstly, he was surrounded by Dragon Shields, and after they were dispelled, he surged his Water Element Power, whereupon the atmosphere literally froze.
Upon sensing the immense might of these two Element Powers, the Proprietress gasped as her chest heaved and she exclaimed, “Both of them are High-Rank Powers!”
In disbelief, she stared at Yang Kai. It had only been a bit more than ten years since this brat arrived in the 3,000 Worlds, but he had already condensed four High-Rank Elements. It was indeed thanks to the countless opportunities in the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary that he was able to condense his Earth Element and Water Element, but even taking that into consideration, his achievements still far surpassed those of most elite cultivators.
No cultivator could ever condense a High-Rank Open Heaven Element in such a short period of time. Normally, it required a long time of accumulation. Furthermore, it was extremely time-consuming to collect such materials.
Normally, for an Emperor Realm Junior, if it only took them a hundred years to go from condensing their Dao Seal to ascending to the Open Heaven Realm, it could be considered rapid. Normally, people needed several hundred years to a thousand years to make this happen.
People who could ascend to the Open Heaven Realm in several dozen years were considered rare geniuses, yet it only took Yang Kai a little more than ten years to condense four Element Powers, all of which were High-Rank. Hardly anyone would believe this story.
“Do you intend to directly ascend to the High-Rank Open Heaven Realm?” The Proprietress gaped at him.
With a solemn expression, Yang Kai replied, “Yes.”
At the mention of this, he suddenly thought of something, “Proprietress, is there any problem with directly breaking through to the High-Rank Open Heaven Realm?”
In the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary, Yue He had repeatedly dissuaded him from doing so, even going so far as to cooperate with Zhu Jiu Yin to make him forcefully condense a Sixth-Order Metal Element Power to set his foundation. It was only because Yang Kai threatened to kill himself that Zhu Jiu Yin gave up on that idea.
Sixth-Order and Seventh-Order were separated by only one Order, but it was akin to the difference between the Heavens and Earth. Besides the fact that one was Mid-Rank and the other was High-Rank, the greatest achievement a person could attain would be different too. Since it had something to do with his future on the Martial Dao, Yang Kai was expected to resist fiercely; otherwise, he wouldn’t have had the courage to offend someone like Zhu Jiu Yin in the Boundary.
What Yue He had done made him feel that something was off though, but when he asked her about it, she only told him to ask the Proprietress about it if there was a chance.
Now that the Proprietress was right in front of him, Yang Kai wanted to find out the answer.
However, the Proprietress fell silent.
A while later, she let out a long sigh, “I never expected that you were such an ambitious person. Directly ascending to the High-Rank Open Heaven Realm is risky. The strength of our Dao Seal is the foundation on which we are able to bear the Yin, Yang, and Five Element Powers. The higher the Order those Element Powers are, the stronger our Dao Seal is required to be. If the powers exceed our own limits, when we ascend to the Open Heaven Realm, there’s a risk of our Dao Sealing exploding, costing us our lives. I’m sure you’re aware of that already.”
Yang Kai nodded in response. Certainly, he was aware of this reality; however, that didn’t really bother him as his Dao Seal was extremely firm. Besides that, he had consumed over ten drops of Divine Dao Water in the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary, which further strengthened his Dao Seal. Hence, there was no problem for him to bear Seventh-Order Elements.
“The risk that comes with the Dao Seal is just a natural disaster, however. In order to directly ascend to the High Rank, the biggest threat you’ll face is a man-made disaster.”
“What do you mean by that?” A puzzled Yang Kai frowned.
The Proprietress went on to say, “Even after cultivators like us ascend to the Open Heaven Realm, we don’t become stuck in that same Order forever. By consuming Open Heaven Pills or using other means, we can strengthen our own World Force and improve the Small Universe in our bodies, which allows us to ascend to higher Orders. However, since the foundation has been built, the ability to build around it is limited. Normally, after a person ascends to the Open Heaven Realm, he or she can make use of external help to achieve an ascension by two Orders, with no hope of achieving more than that.”
After a pause, she continued, “For example, I’m now a Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, so I’ll have a chance to become an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master in the future, and that’s my limit. On the other hand, Old Bai is a Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master now, so his limit is the Seventh-Order. Of course, if you can find the Universe Furnace, that’s a different story. The Universe Furnace is an innate artifact and the Open Heaven Pills it nurtures have far greater efficacy than the pills refined made by Alchemists. With these Innate Open Heaven Pills, one can break through their limits. However, you shouldn’t even think about it. According to the ancient books, it was very rare for the Universe Furnace to appear, and every appearance led to a reign of blood and terror.”
Then, she added, “The Second-Order and Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm are the dividing points. For those who break through directly to the Second Order, the limit is the Fourth Order, and for the Fifth Order, the limit is the Seventh Order. In other words, there’s a possibility for a Low-Rank cultivator to ascend to the Mid-Rank and for a Mid-Rank cultivator to ascend to the High-Rank; therefore, normally, if a person is capable enough, they will either choose to ascend to the Second-Order Open Heaven Realm in the Low-Rank or the Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm in the Mid-Rank. That’s to give themselves greater hope for the future.”
Yang Kai nodded his head, “It’s no wonder both Old Bai and Yue He ascended to the Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm.”
The Proprietress nodded, “That’s one of the reasons. Another reason is that it’s where their limit is. Furthermore, it’s difficult to look for Sixth-Order materials.”
Every Sixth-Order material was incredibly precious. Yang Kai had indeed obtained a lot of rewards in the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary, but there was only a small number of Sixth-Order resources in comparison. He had about a hundred such resources at most, and that was after he became the most powerful person in the Boundary and had Scarlet Star collect all these for him.
All of a sudden, the Proprietress shot him a glance, “If you want to directly ascend to the Seventh Order, what will your limit be?”
“Ninth-Order!” Yang Kai’s expression was calm but serious.
“Yes, Ninth-Order.” The Proprietress sported a smile, “Is there anyone in the world who can go against such a figure? Even the Cave-Heavens and Paradises won’t sit back and watch you grow, for once that happens, you will shake the foundation on which they rule over the 3,000 Worlds.”
Yang Kai’s expression changed, “So, this is what you mean by a man-made disaster?”
The Proprietress nodded gently, “All Thirty-Six Cave-Heavens and Seventy-Two Paradises will not sit back and do nothing.”
Yang Kai paled, “Are those top great forces really that unreasonable and overbearing?”
Things had become a little thorny now. In the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary, he had made friends with Xu Zhen and the others, and they were the disciples from Cave-Heavens and Paradises. After they returned to their Sects, they would definitely make full reports to their Masters. When the people from those top great forces became aware that Yang Kai had condensed several High-Rank Element Powers and even comprehended a Divine Manifestation, he would fall into a perilous situation.
The Proprietress seemed to be walking down memory lane as she said slowly, “About 1,000 years ago, there was a man who was just as gifted as you. He attempted to directly ascend to the High-Rank and in fact, he had encountered countless opportunities and was extremely lucky, so he managed to condense six Element Powers, leaving him just one step away from achieving his goal.”
“What happened then?” Yang Kai turned to look at her.
“Then…” The Proprietress let out a breath, “For some reasons that were beyond his control, he could only become a Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master.”
Yang Kai frowned, “You mean, the last resource that he absorbed was in the Fifth Order?”
In response, the Proprietress gently nodded.
In order to ascend to the Open Heaven Realm, a cultivator had to condense Yin, Yang, and Five Elements into their Dao Seal; however, as for how far one could go, it depended on the lowest Order Element they absorbed. Just like filling a barrel with water, it all depended on the shortest plank to determine how much water could be held. It didn’t matter if the planks were taller as that did not change the maximum capacity of the barrel.
Yang Kai didn’t understand why that man gave up on such a bright future. He was bound to be a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, but he ended up becoming a Fifth-Order one. Perhaps there were reasons that he had no control over; otherwise, no one would be willing to make such a decision.
“Where is that man now?” Yang Kai asked.
The Proprietress slowly shook her head.
Seeing that, Yang Kai realised that this man must be dead.
She went on to say, “So, if you want to directly ascend to the High-Rank Open Heaven Realm, your biggest obstacle isn’t how difficult it is to look for High-Rank resources, but the Cave-Heavens and Paradises!”
Yang Kai felt his heart sinking. If it was just as the Proprietress had said, things would become tricky. It had been a long time since these Cave-Heavens and Paradises established themselves in the 3,000 Worlds, so their heritage was shocking. Anyone that had been targeted by them would never live a peaceful life again. There was no doubt that they would relentlessly suppress such a person.
“What if I can join one of the Cave Heavens or Paradises?” The idea suddenly sprang into Yang Kai’s mind. Perhaps he could make use of a top great force’s power to resist such pressure.
The Proprietress chuckled, “There are Thirty-Six Cave-Heavens and Seventy-Two Paradises. Which one do you want to join? If you manage to join one, the other hundred and seven top forces will never agree to it. Which great force would be willing to resist such pressure for you?”
Yang Kai furrowed his brow, “Is there anyone in this world who can directly break through to the High-Rank Open Heaven Realm?”
“Yes.” The Proprietress nodded, “The disciples nurtured by the Cave-Heavens and Paradises from birth have such a chance, but you aren’t one of them. Besides the fact that it is extremely hard to look for Seventh-Order resources, rarely anyone in this world has a good enough aptitude to directly ascend to the High-Rank.”
A furious Yang Kai bellowed, “It’s not fair that they have a chance to ascend to the High-Rank while others can’t!”
“So, if you want to directly ascend to the High-Rank Open Heaven Realm, the road ahead for you will be paved with obstacles and danger. You might even have to go against the entire world.”
Yang Kai asked, “Are you trying to tell me to lower my expectations?”
The Proprietress slowly shook her head, “You will have to choose your own path. Regardless of what decision you make, I will not interfere in it. I’m just telling you the threats you’ll face.”
1,000 years ago, she had done everything she could to persuade that person to curb his ambitions, but the result was a complete tragedy. Now, 1,000 years later, history seemed to be repeating itself, and this time, she would not make the same mistake.
Yang Kai lowered his head.
For the remaining journey, the Proprietress seemed to have lost interest in talking and appeared to be engulfed in an atmosphere of sorrow. As such, the trip became a silent one.
One day, after passing through several Great Territories, the pair suddenly stopped at a certain point in the void.
The Proprietress fished out a Universe Chart and took a glance at it before looking around and muttering, “It should be around here.”
Following that, she took out a jade and infused her energy into it. After that, she hurled the jade away, whereupon it turned into a ray of light and shot forward. As though the ray of light had crashed into something, it shattered. As they were engulfed in the dazzling light, a portal came into Yang Kai’s sight.
He arched his brow, knowing that there was a hidden space over there and the jade was the key to open it.
This kind of concealment technique was extraordinary. Even a Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master like the Proprietress couldn’t see through it as she had to rely on this special jade.
It reminded Yang Kai of the Nine Heavenly Layers. If the Grand Array was completed, Void Land could also completely disappear.
At that instant, he secretly felt fortunate that he had made such a decision. What the Proprietress had told him made him realise that he would be faced with endless trouble in the future, and he might drag Void Land into it as well. With the Nine Heavenly Layers, it could at least protect Void Land.
“Hm, who is it that has come to visit? So troublesome!” An aged voice was suddenly heard coming from beyond the portal. It was apparent that he was an elderly man, and his voice could arouse a sense of dreariness.
Yang Kai was stunned as he found the owner of this place interesting. He didn’t even pretend to be amiable. Feeling troubled, he would directly say it out loud. It seemed that he wasn’t afraid of offending anyone.
However, it seemed that the Proprietress was already used to this as she said with a smile, “Grandmaster Ma Fan, it’s me. Please open the door.”
Yang Kai was dumbfounded, thinking that the owner of this place had such a weird name.
Recognising her voice, Grandmaster Ma Fan sighed, “It’s you, little girl. Haaa… So troublesome. Come in.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the portal opened up and revealed a dark passageway.
After hinting at Yang Kai to follow her, the Proprietress stepped into the passageway first. Not daring to be negligent, Yang Kai hurriedly followed her.
Right after they entered the portal, they were greeted by a dazzling light. Yang Kai narrowed his eyes, and when he made out what was in front of him a moment later, he was astounded.
He thought that the world behind the portal would look just like Void Land, but after entering this place, he realised that it was vastly different from what he had imagined.
The space seemed boundless and it was apparent that he and the Proprietress were still standing in the void. In this space, there were several dozen Stars, and every Star was surrounded by clouds. Every Star looked different, and there was a gigantic Sun Star that was emitting light and heat at their centre.
The Sun’s True Fire could be seen pulsating on the surface of the Sun Star, and the entire void was illuminated by its light. This place was just like a miniature Great Territory.
Yang Kai was so flabbergasted that he couldn’t say a word.
On the other hand, the Proprietress was already used to it as she said, “The scenery in those Cave-Heavens and Paradises are countless times more splendid than this. Moreover, this place is the ruins of a Paradise, and Grandmaster Ma Fan is the only surviving descendent of that Paradise.”
“The ruins of a Paradise?” Yang Kai was shocked.
The Proprietress explained, “Thirty-Six Cave-Heavens and Seventy-Two Paradises do not remain the same forever. The 3,000 Worlds aren’t as simple as you think.”
Yang Kai was astonished. The Cave-Heavens and Paradises were the strongest great forces in the world, so what could possibly make one disappear? Was it because of natural or man-made disasters?
Moreover, the ruins of a Paradise were already so magnificent, so what about the real Paradises? What about the Cave Heavens?
The emotions in Yang Kai’s heart undulated. Affected by the Sun Star in this place, he felt that the Golden Crow’s True Fire in his body was tempted to resonate with it.
“Let’s go,” The Proprietress took his arm and led him to a Star before landing on the ground.
Soon, Yang Kai saw the Grandmaster Ma Fan whom the Proprietress had mentioned.
He was indeed an elderly man, but his bitter expression seemed to suggest that he had lost interest in life. It was as though he was eager to kill himself to end all the trouble.
What surprised Yang Kai was that even though this elderly man looked ordinary, he was actually a High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Master.
That revelation stunned Yang Kai and he couldn’t help but admire the Proprietress for having a lot of connections as she managed to become friends with such a person.
“Junior greets Grandmaster!” The Proprietress obediently saluted. Besides the fact that she was weaker than he was, she was also much younger.
Naturally, Yang Kai also paid his respects.
Grandmaster Ma Fan lifted his eyes to take a glance at the Proprietress and quickly lowered them again, as though he felt that raising his eyes was also troublesome. In a languid manner, he said, “Little girl, when was the last time we met?”
With a smile, the Proprietress replied, “About 300 years ago.”
“Three hundred years…” Grandmaster Ma Fan appeared sullen as he muttered, “In other words, I’ve been sitting here for 300 years.”
At that revelation, Yang Kai felt speechless. How lazy must this elderly man be that he could sit there and do nothing for 300 years?
“Ting Yu, you’re also here,” Grandmaster Ma Fan said.
With her lips curving into a smile, the Proprietress refuted, “Old man, what’s wrong with your eyes? Take a closer look. He isn’t Ting Yu.”
“Hmm?” Grandmaster Ma Fan lifted his eyes to take a glance at Yang Kai, then he became shocked, “He really isn’t Ting Yu, but they look similar. Oh, I remember it now. Ting Yu is already gone. I guess I’m really going senile now.”
Yang Kai was startled as it wasn’t the first time he heard the name ‘Ting Yu’. When they were in the Sealing Yang Domain in the past, Yue He also called out this name.
Taking past incidents into consideration, Yang Kai had a feeling that he looked similar to this guy called Ting Yu, and to the Proprietress and Yue He, Ting Yu was someone very important.
Perhaps this person was the reason the Proprietress and Yue He had fallen out. Certainly, he couldn’t ask about it right in front of the Proprietress, so he suppressed the doubts in his heart.
“What’s the purpose of your visit this time?” Grandmaster Ma Fan asked.
The Proprietress replied, “I’ve come all the way here because I want you to refine some artifacts for me.”
“I knew it. This will be so troublesome,” Grandmaster Ma Fan didn’t conceal his displeasure.
A nonchalant Proprietress continued with a smile, “That’s because you’re one of the best Artifact Grandmasters in this world. In the entire 3,000 Worlds, fewer than 3 people are comparable to you in this field.”
Grandmaster Ma Fan snorted, “Stop your flattery, it means nothing to me.” Despite what he had said, his slightly curved lips suggested that he was pleased to hear such pleasantries.
Then, he got up as cracking sounds were heard coming from his slim figure. After a sigh, he said, “Forget it. I’ve remained seated for a long time, and it’s time to get up and do something else. Lan girl, what artifacts do you want to refine?”
Hurriedly, the Proprietress replied, “Old man, the things I want you to make are Array Artifacts, not ordinary artifacts.”
There were many kinds of artifacts in the world, and Array Artifacts were one of them. As its name suggested, these artifacts were made for the various Grand Arrays.
Normally, any artifact could be used as an Array Artifact. As long as a Grand Array was correctly arranged and allowed the artifact to merge with it, its power could be magnified.
However, Array Artifacts had to be activated with the help of a Grand Array. That was because every Array Artifact was extremely energy-consuming when activated, and it was unbearable for any cultivator, so it required the help of a Grand Array.
In return, the power that could be derived from an Array Artifact was much greater than that of ordinary artifacts. Correspondingly, it also required more resources to forge an Array Artifact.
All of a sudden, Grandmaster Ma Fan shot a glance at the Proprietress, “You want to make Array Artifacts?”
She nodded.
“There’s no problem. As long as you can collect all the materials, I don’t mind making them for you; however, you helped me with three things in the past, and I promised to make three artifacts for you. You’ve already used two chances, leaving you with just one. Tell me what kind of artifact you want to make.”
With a smile, the Proprietress replied, “Old man, I want you to make a killing artifact and a defensive artifact.”
Grandmaster Ma Fan slowly shook his head, “Little girl, you know my rules. Don’t be too greedy.”
The Proprietress said, “Of course I know your rules, and every chance could only be traded for one artifact, but…” She suddenly fell silent and parted her lips to secretly speak to the elderly man.
Initially, Grandmaster Ma Fan’s expression was dispassionate, but he soon appeared shocked. Then, he swept a glance over Yang Kai with a hesitant expression.
A moment later, he nodded gently, “Alright. I’ll agree to it; however, boy, you have to remember that you owe this old man a favour now, and when I want you to do something for me in the future, you must not turn me down.”
Upon hearing that, Yang Kai knew that the Proprietress must have come to an agreement with the elderly man, and this agreement had something to do with him. Trusting the Proprietress though, he cupped his fists and replied, “Rest assured, Grandmaster, this Junior will remember and will not turn you down.”
“Heh heh.” Grandmaster Ma Fan chuckled, “I hope you won’t go back on your word then.”
Then, they moved forward and reached the Grand Hall in a short moment. A gigantic Refining Furnace that was 300 metres tall had been erected in the Grand Hall, and around it were various tools for refining artifacts. The variety of tools dazzled Yang Kai.
Standing at the bottom of the Refining Furnace, they looked just like three ants. A lot of abstruse patterns had been engraved on the surface of the Refining Furnace, seemingly resonating with the Grand Dao.
The Proprietress looked up and was amazed, “It’s not the first time I see it, but I still think that this Universe Furnace is extremely abstruse.”
“Universe Furnace?” Yang Kai was flabbergasted, “Is this the Universe Furnace?”
Smilingly, the Proprietress replied, “Of course, this is not the real Universe Furnace. Strictly speaking, this is a replica Universe Furnace. The Universe Furnace is an Innate creation, a Supreme Treasure which can nurture everything in this world. The ancestors of Grandmaster Ma Fan had a chance to see the real Universe Furnace, and using it as inspiration, they spent countless years and effort to build this replica Universe Furnace. Despite that, this replica Universe Furnace is far less profound and powerful than the real one.”
“It has about 1% of the capabilities as the true Universe Furnace.” Grandmaster Ma Fan snorted, “If it weren’t because the ancestors were putting all their time and energy into making this replica Universe Furnace, our enemy wouldn’t have had the chance to take advantage of us.”
He seemed to suggest that his Paradise had fallen because his ancestors were too focused on making this replica Universe Furnace, but that must have happened a long, long time ago.
“However, it was thanks to this replica Universe Furnace that they managed to save our foundation. This replica Universe Furnace has made but also broken our great force!”
Following that, Grandmaster Ma Fan tossed a jade slip at Yang Kai and said smugly, “We have 1,035 Array Artifacts in our great force. Let’s see which ones you’d like to obtain.”
After taking the jade slip, Yang Kai infused his Divine Sense into it and became amazed.
There were many kinds of Array Artifacts that were recorded in the jade slip, which dazzled him. The names, types, and uses of the Array Artifacts were all listed in detail.
This was indeed an abundant heritage. The information recorded in this jade slip alone was worth an unimaginable amount of wealth.
Yang Kai couldn’t help recalling Divine Cauldron Heaven. Of the Thirty-Six Cave-Heavens and Seventy-Two Paradises, Divine Cauldron Heaven was the most famous for refining artifacts. The Yuan Magnetic Divine Bottle Gourd in Yang Kai’s possession was made by the little fatty, Xu Zhen. He wondered whether the heritage of Divine Cauldron Heaven or this Paradise was greater.
It was extremely difficult to choose a killing artifact and a defensive artifact from over 1,000 Array Artifacts.
Yang Kai went over them and thought that many of them were terrific. At that instant, he was caught in a dilemma.
Without urging him, Grandmaster Ma Fan just waited patiently to the side. In the end, it was the Proprietress who couldn’t take it anymore as she snatched the jade slip and took a glance, whereupon she made a decision, “Let’s choose the Heavenly Net Umbrella and the Heavenly Executioner’s Sword.”
Yang Kai nodded, “We’ll choose these two, then.”
Grandmaster Ma Fan grinned meaningfully, “In order to make these two items, a lot of resources are required.”
Yang Kai cupped his fists, “Grandmaster, please give me a list of all the resources needed.”
After a grunt, Grandmaster Ma Fan fished out another jade slip and infused his Divine Sense into it. A moment later, he tossed it at Yang Kai.
Upon examining it, Yang Kai furrowed his brows. It wasn’t that too many resources were needed, but that he couldn’t recognise most of them. In fact, he wasn’t familiar with most of the items that he had amassed in the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary.
This was embarrassing. In other words, even if he had some of the necessary resources, he wasn’t aware of it.
Helpless, he could only seek the Proprietress’ help, and following her guidance, he slowly fished out the required materials from his Small Sealed World.
In the beginning, Grandmaster Ma Fan remained nonchalant, but as Yang Kai took out more items, he gradually became stunned.
“You also have a lump of Radiant Black Platinum? It’s as big as a washbasin!”
“Tsk. Sealing Demon Iron is almost unobtainable anymore. I was unable to find it regardless of how hard I tried. Where did you get it?”
“Sovereign Grade Fantasy Dust! This is extremely rare. This one here must have been formed over the course of 10,000 years.”
Every time Yang Kai fished out an ore, Grandmaster Ma Fan could easily recognise what it was, which went to show that he was truly an erudite person. On the other hand, he was amazed by Yang Kai’s wealth. It never crossed his mind that an Emperor Realm Junior could possess so many precious items.
[Where is this brat from? Could he have inherited the wealth of a Divine Monarch?]
Low-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters could only call themselves True Monarchs, and Mid-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters could use the title of Heavenly Monarch. On the other hand, Divine Monarch was a title exclusive to High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters.
Gazing at the young man before him, Grandmaster Ma Fan was both shocked and doubtful.
Certainly, the Proprietress wouldn’t explain anything to him as she remained on the side with a faint smile.
An hour later, a lot of materials had piled up in front of Yang Kai. Gazing at these things, Yang Kai scratched his head, “We still lack some things.”
He had gathered about 80% of the materials on the list, but there were 20% of them that he couldn’t find. Although he had obtained a lot of rewards in the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary, there were still things that he didn’t have, which made him feel helpless.
The Proprietress asked, “Old man, do you have these things?”
With a vigilant expression, Grandmaster Ma Fan narrowed his eyes, “What’s wrong? Do you want to get them from me?”
Sporting a smile, the Proprietress replied, “We won’t take them from you for free. As you can see, Yang Kai has many rare items that can be traded for your things. He doesn’t mind taking a small loss.”
As his gaze darted around, Grandmaster Ma Fan nodded his head, “Good.”
Then, they went on to exchange the items they had. The Proprietress assisted Yang Kai, bargaining back and forth with the elderly man. A few hours later, they managed to gather all the materials. All in all, Yang Kai had suffered a small loss, but that should be alright.
A furious Grandmaster Ma Fan said, “Little girl, how can you help him instead of this old man? Don’t even think about getting me to make any artifacts for you again!”
With her lips curving into a smile, the Proprietress replied, “Old man, don’t forget your age. Stop getting angry easily, or your life will be shortened.”
Upon hearing that, Grandmaster Ma Fan was infuriated.
On the side, Yang Kai was extremely nervous as he was worried that the elderly man would decide not to make the artifacts for him. Fortunately, even though he seemed furious, he didn’t go back on his word. After gathering all the materials, he started working on the artifacts.
As a jade rose in the air, the immense aura of a peak Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master spread out and Grandmaster Ma Fan bellowed, “Stand back!”
Without hesitation, the Proprietress wrapped her power around Yang Kai and retreated 1,000 kilometres.
Following a loud boom, the ground shook as the entire Star seemed to be trembling. Then, Yang Kai was shocked by what he saw. The ring around the Star started spinning around as though it had been propelled by a mysterious force.
Next, the same thing happened to the rings around the other Stars in the void.
Initially, the speed at which the rings rotated was slow, but as time passed, their speed increased. Awe-inspiring auras started pulsing from those Stars.
Looking up, Yang Kai realised that these Stars had formed into an array, and the middle of the array was the scorching Sun Star.
“Universe Tempering Art!” The Proprietress muttered, “This is a long-lost Secret Art. In this world, only this old man has grasped it. After he passes away, this Secret Art will be gone for good.”
“Universe Tempering Art?” Yang Kai was astonished.
Right then, a dazzling light shot out of the Sun Star and illuminated the World.
Drawn by the array, a ray of light beamed from the Sun Star and struck the Star where Yang Kai and the others were located.
Yang Kai was horrified. Even though he was 1,000 kilometres away, he could still feel how terrifying this force was. If the Star was struck by this ray of light, it would immediately explode.
Following a boom, the Star shook violently upon being struck, but unlike what Yang Kai had imagined, it didn’t break apart. That was because the ray of light had directly hurtled into the replica Universe Furnace.
At that instant, the runic patterns on the replica Universe Furnace lit up, and a raging flame was seen coming from the furnace.
A dumbfounded Yang Kai finally understood why Grandmaster Ma Fan’s Secret Art was called the Universe Tempering Art. The foundation on which he forged artifacts was that he had to draw the Sun’s fire which was stimulated by the power of the Universe itself. This kind of grand Secret Art was simply inconceivable to Yang Kai.
Looking from afar, Yang Kai could see that the costly materials were thrown into the replica Universe Furnace by Grandmaster Ma Fan, and the old man himself kept using different hand seals. The array at the bottom of the furnace could be seen flickering, which dazzled the eyes of the beholder.
Making artifacts was both energy and time-consuming, and it couldn’t be completed in a short period of time. Any slight negligence would lead to failure.
Although Yang Kai wasn’t familiar with forging artifacts, he was an expert in the Alchemic Dao. These were two different fields, but there were many similarities.
Grandmaster Ma Fan’s Universe Tempering Art was abstruse and unique, which made Yang Kai unable to move his eyes away.
As more materials were added, what looked like a piece of hot iron started taking shape in the replica Universe Furnace. The impurities from the materials were then removed by Grandmaster Ma Fan using a special technique.
There came a moment when the array at the bottom of the furnace changed again. Grandmaster Ma Fan let out a shout as the aura of his World Force spread around.
Following some popping sounds, his slim figure started expanding. In the blink of an eye, he turned from a listless old man into a giant who was 1,000 metres tall.
The giant’s hair was seen flapping in the wind, and his face was painted red by the fire. All his muscles were bulging, which made him look like a vigorous young man. Then, he extended his hand into the furnace and grabbed the block of red hot iron before placing it on a huge anvil. The giant then picked up an enormous hammer and struck the hot iron.
*Guang… Guang… Guang…*
Every time he struck the hot iron, the entire Star would tremble, and the deafening noise permeated the Universe World. The sparks coming from the metalworking process seemed able to destroy the Heavens and shatter the Earth. However, the giant was oblivious to all this as he let the sparks splash onto his skin.
After striking the iron for nine days straight, the giant suddenly threw the semi-finished work back into the furnace, which attracted the raging Sun’s fire to burn it. Then, he put more materials into the furnace.
Nine days later, he fished out the semi-finished work and continued striking it.
With nine days as a cycle, the same thing happened again and again. The semi-finished work was repeatedly moved between the furnace and the anvil.
Gradually, a gigantic longsword took shape. Even though it was just a semi-finished product, Yang Kai could still feel a horrifying aura coming from the sword, which shocked him. When the sword was completed, it would certainly be immensely powerful.
After doing the same thing for 81 days, Grandmaster Ma Fan suddenly bellowed, “Boy, come here!”
Apparently, the Proprietress had been waiting for this moment, so upon hearing this call, she immediately wrapped her World Force around Yang Kai and shot towards Grandmaster Ma Fan. Standing at the feet of the giant, they looked like two ants.
Grandmaster Ma Fan swung the sword and held it out in front of Yang Kai before yelling, “Blood!”
Looking at the huge sword that was several dozen metres long, Yang Kai felt speechless; however, he knew that it must be in the final stage of forging. The reason Grandmaster Ma Fan wanted his blood was that he wanted to leave his Imprint inside the Heavenly Executioner’s Sword. From then on, only Yang Kai, and those he granted permission to, would be able to activate the sword’s power, making it useless for other people to snatch it.
Not daring to be negligent, Yang Kai hurriedly cut his palm as his blood started streaming out of the wound. He balled up his fist and held it out above the blade.
Sizzling sounds were immediately heard, but instead of merging into the sword, the blood turned into petite Blood Dragons and began swimming across it.
“Hm?” Grandmaster Ma Fan exclaimed and looked at Yang Kai in shock, “Dragon Blood! You’re a member of the Dragon Clan?”
Hearing that, a stunned Proprietress turned to look at Yang Kai as well.
She wasn’t aware that Yang Kai had a Dragon Clan bloodline. That was because he once brought the Ruler of the Dawn Great General to look for his mother. After Mie Meng was saved, she told Yang Kai not to reveal the fact that he had a Dragon Clan bloodline easily. Her reason was that even though the Dragon Clan was extremely powerful, they had many enemies in the 3,000 Worlds. If others found out about this secret, he might invite trouble to himself.
She also told him that if he really came across any danger that couldn’t be resolved, he could reveal that he was a member of the Dragon Clan to frighten off his opponents.
All in all, in the 3,000 World, having a bloodline related to the Dragon Clan was a double-edged sword. It might invite trouble to Yang Kai, but it might also save him from fatal danger.
Therefore, he had been consciously keeping this secret.
In the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary, he had used his Dragon Transformation Secret Technique several times, but the people who had seen this Secret Technique were either his own people or already dead.
“Hahaha! Turns out you’re a member of the Dragon Clan. Good good!” Grandmaster Ma Fan’s laugh was deafening, “Don’t stop! Give me more Dragon Blood!”
It seemed that Dragon Blood was immensely beneficial to the Heavenly Executioner’s Sword.
Hearing that, Yang Kai could only let more of his blood drip onto the blade. His restorative abilities were incredible and his Dragon Vein and the Wood Element Power from Immortal Tree allowed him to heal small cuts almost immediately. In order to squeeze out more Dragon Blood, he could only keep opening his wound so that it wouldn’t heal.
As time passed, the entire blade became covered in his golden Dragon Blood.
“That’s enough!” Grandmaster Ma Fan shouted and threw the sword into the replica Universe Furnace again.
The Proprietress turned to look at Yang Kai and sized him up, as though it was the first time she met him.
“Brat, I can’t believe you’ve been keeping this secret from me,” She snorted.
She believed that Yang Kai was just a newcomer to the 3,000 Worlds; however, it wasn’t until he left the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary that she became aware that he had secretly condensed four High-Rank Elements, and it wasn’t until this moment that she found out he had a Dragon Clan bloodline.
“This is not something that’s worth bragging about,” Yang Kai smiled helplessly.
“I’ll settle this account with you later!”
Yang Kai immediately felt bitter in his heart.
In a nearby place, Grandmaster Ma Fan had already returned to his original form, and his aura even appeared weaker than before. He must have expended a lot of energy to refine this artifact; however, at this point, he didn’t need to put more effort into it as the Heavenly Executioner’s Sword was basically finished. All they had to do was wait.
More than ten days later, Grandmaster Ma Fan suddenly got to his feet and stared fervently at the replica Universe Furnace. At this moment, the furnace was trembling, as though a ferocious beast was about to rush out of it. Following the vibration, rays of Sword Qi shot out of the furnace; however, the furnace was extremely abstruse and the Heavenly Executioner’s Sword was unable to break free from it.
There came a moment when all the noises died down.
“Hahaha. It’s done.” Grandmaster Ma Fan guffawed and turned to look at Yang Kai, “It’s ready. This artifact is made with your blood, so only you can take it. Don’t let it run away.”
After a serious nod, Yang Kai circulated his strength and got ready.
The next instant, Grandmaster Ma Fan used a different hand seal, whereupon a golden light burst out of the furnace.
A swift Yang Kai extended his hand and grabbed the golden light.
A buzzing sound was heard as the void seemed to be trembling. A golden sword was shaking violently in Yang Kai’s hand, but before he could feel the sword’s power, his expression changed as he was dragged away by the weapon. Regardless of how hard he tried, he was unable to stop the sword.
From afar, he yelled, “Proprietress, save me!”
Naturally, she remained on the spot with her arms crossed and sneered.
In the blink of an eye, the Heavenly Executioner’s Sword brought Yang Kai out of the Star and shot into the void. He surged his power to stop the weapon, but it was all in vain.
He could clearly feel that this sword was closely connected to him; however, the artifact had just been forged, and no one was able to resist its vigour. Despite the fact that there was a connection between them, Yang Kai was unable to control the weapon.
Fortunately, they were in the ruins of a Paradise, which was cut off from the outside world, so he wasn’t worried that the sword would run away.
A few days later, the remaining energy in the Heavenly Executioner’s Sword was finally exhausted. With his forehead already drenched in sweat, Yang Kai stood hovering in the void, staring at the sword in his hand. It wasn’t until this moment that he made out what the sword looked like.
When the sword was being forged, it was several tens of metres long, but after it was completed, it looked just like an ordinary sword, which seemed to suggest that this weapon could freely change its size.
The golden sword was one solid metal piece, and it looked extremely expensive.
With the sword in his hand, Yang Kai wielded it and gently ran it across his arm, which immediately left a white mark on his skin, amazing him at how sharp the weapon was. It had to be noted that, as a Half Dragon, Yang Kai’s physique was incredibly sturdy. Even though he didn’t exert much force though, the sword could easily leave a mark on his skin. If he used even slightly more force, the weapon could’ve injured him.
Then, he attempted to try out the sword’s power, but he couldn’t activate it.
It was then he realised that the sword was indeed an Array Artifact, so it required immense power to activate. Presently, he was just an Emperor Realm cultivator, so how was he supposed to bring it to life?
He reckoned that he could only witness the sword’s power with the help of the Nine Heavenly Layers Grand Array.
At that moment, Yang Kai was already looking forward to it.
It could be said that the Heavenly Executioner’s Sword was forged in a short period of time as it only took 3 months. It had to be noted that to create a powerful artifact from scratch, it would take most Artifact Refining Grandmasters a few years or even longer.
However, Grandmaster Ma Fan only needed 3 months to achieve this. It seemed that it was thanks to his Universe Tempering Art.
In this world, artifacts were also categorised into different ranks, just like how it ranged from the First Order to the Ninth Order in the Open Heaven Realm. These artifacts could only be used by Open Heaven Realm Masters because it required the World Force to activate their powers.
Therefore, even if an Emperor Realm cultivator obtained one, it was no different from scrap metal in their hands.
Every Star or Spirit Province could be considered a Small Universe, which could naturally nurture World Force. By arranging the Nine Heavenly Layers around Void Land, Yang Kai could make use of the Grand Array to manipulate Void Land’s World Force. After the Heavenly Executioner’s Sword was blessed by World Force, its full power could be displayed.
In fact, Yang Kai had a way to forcefully stimulate the sword’s power, which was to mobilise the World Force of the Small Sealed World. However, by doing so, the heritage of the Small Sealed World would shrink, which would be detrimental to it.
Even though the Small Sealed World was no longer as useful in the 3,000 Worlds, Yang Kai had a tentative idea in his mind for it. When the time came, he would need the Small Sealed World, and if this idea could be realized, his power would increase tremendously.
When the Heavenly Executioner’s Sword was forged, it had cost Yang Kai countless rare materials, which included some Sixth-Order ones. Therefore, this sword was expected to be in the Fifth-Order at the very least, and it was likely to be in the Sixth-Order.
Certainly, Yang Kai was satisfied with the outcome. Although it had cost him an arm and a leg, the reward was immense.
After storing the sword, he returned to the Star and realised that Grandmaster Ma Fan had already started working on the Heavenly Net Umbrella.
The Heavenly Executioner’s Sword was a killing artifact while the Heavenly Net Umbrella was a defensive artifact. Both of them would work perfectly together in the Nine Heavenly Layers. With these two artifacts, it could be said that the Grand Array around Void Land would be infused with a Soul.
The minimum requirements had been met. Initially, Yang Kai intended to ask Grandmaster Ma Fan to refine his Shadowless Veil, but he believed that he’d better not bring it up. It had cost the Proprietress’ last chance and a promise from Yang Kai for Grandmaster Ma Fan to forge the sword and umbrella, if he still asked the old man to refine his Shadowless Veil as well, he’d be crossing the line. Certainly, he wouldn’t want to ruin the relationship with this Artifact Refining Grandmaster.
The process of making the Heavenly Net Umbrella wasn’t much different, but it took a longer time than forging the sword. It took the old man half a year. Since time immemorial, defensive artifacts had always been more valuable than killing artifacts. The reason was that the cost and difficulty of making a defensive artifact were greater.
Despite the fact that the old man had inherited his Paradise’s heritage, it still took him half a year before he could fully refine the umbrella.
During the final stage, Yang Kai once again shed a lot of his blood.
Just like the sword, the Heavenly Net Umbrella was in the Sixth Order, and its defence capabilities were astonishing.
After the two artifacts were completed, Grandmaster Ma Fan immediately chased them away. He didn’t seem to have the intention of making them stay. It was a burden to him to make two Sixth-Order artifacts consecutively. To someone like him, who was averse to trouble, this was no different from torture; therefore, he wanted to take a rest as soon as possible.
The Proprietress and Yang Kai bade him farewell and left.
It took them a long time to reach this place, but it was much easier when they returned. After passing through several Universe Temples, they arrived at Void Land in just a month.
It had been a year since Yang Kai and the Proprietress left, but during this period of time, there didn’t seem to be any changes to Void Land. After all, it was extremely difficult to build the Nine Heavenly Layers. Now, they hadn’t even completed 50% of the Grand Array.
When they met Grandmaster Wu Liang again, they realised that he seemed to be malnourished and sickly, but his eyes were unusually bright, and he appeared to be enthusiastic. Upon learning that Yang Kai had obtained two Sixth-Order Array Artifacts, he guffawed and flew away as he said, “True Monarch, don’t worry. Even if it costs my life, this Old Master will definitely build the Nine Heavenly Layers for you!”
Yang Kai was worried that this old man would overwork himself and pass away halfway through. If that happened, their efforts so far would be wasted. After all, the Nine Heavenly Layers was conceived by Grandmaster Wu Liang. Even if they hired another Spirit Array Grandmaster, he might not be able to comprehend the abstrusity of it.
There were more people in Void Land now. These several thousand people were brought to this place by Yue He from Small Orchid Palace. Most of them were weak, below the Emperor Realm. Nevertheless, they could still assist the others to arrange the Grand Array.
Void Land was still bustling.
In the Grand Hall of Earth Spirit Land, Yue He was reporting to Yang Kai on their progress so far. With a worried expression though, she said, “Young Master, the cost to arrange this Grand Array is too great. Should we talk to Grandmaster Wu Liang to modify it?”
She was in charge of Void Land’s finances, and it made her heart bleed to see such a large number of materials being consumed every single day. Although Yang Kai had amassed immense wealth in the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary and obtained the secret storehouse left behind by Xu Huang, even he couldn’t bear this kind of consumption.
Now, the Nine Heavenly Layers was only half-completed, but the wealth he had obtained from the Boundary had shrunk by 30%. If they really fully built the Grand Array, she was worried that a large part of Yang Kai’s wealth would be gone.
Besides that, he had also expended a lot of resources to make the Heavenly Executioner’s Sword and the Heavenly Net Umbrella. These two Array Artifacts were to be used on the Grand Array as well.
The Grand Array alone almost made him use up all of his wealth.
“There’s no need.” Yang Kai shook his head, “Just do it according to the original plan.”
Before agreeing to Grandmaster Wu Liang’s proposal, Yang Kai was already psychologically prepared, so he wasn’t surprised at the large consumption of materials. The more he contributed, the greater the reward would be. Void Land was the foundation on which he would gain a footing in the 3,000 Worlds, so he wouldn’t hold back anything when it came to arranging the Grand Array.
After the materials were consumed, he would still have a chance to earn them back in the future; however, if powerful enemies came to invade them one day, and Void Land was unable to defend itself, it would be a loss he could not recover from.
Moreover, after what he had heard from the Proprietress, Yang Kai was even more determined to complete the Nine Heavenly Layers.
If he wanted to directly ascend to the High-Rank Open Heaven Realm, the road ahead would be paved with obstacles, and the people from the Cave-Heavens and Paradises might come to suppress him directly. By then, Void Land would be his capital to deal with them.
“Just give Grandmaster Wu Liang whatever he needs. If there are resources that we lack, tell some people to purchase them as soon as possible. We still have 3 billion Open Heaven Pills, right?”
3 billion Open Heaven Pills was a horrifying figure. Half of that number was obtained by Yang Kai from the Space Ring of the Pavilion Master of Sword Pavilion. That man had been lording over others for centuries, but in the end, all his wealth fell into Yang Kai’s hands. Furthermore, the several tens of thousands of Space Rings from the people of Sword Pavilion’s Star City also contained a lot of Open Heaven Pills.
On the other hand, Scarlet Star had been the most powerful great force in the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary for years.With every breath, there were a lot of transactions going on in their Star City, and Scarlet Star would get a small bite of each transaction as tax. As time passed, they grew to be filthy rich. Even though 70% of the income had been given to Yang Kai, the remaining 30% was still immense.
That was how Yang Kai managed to amass 3 billion Open Heaven Pills.
Yue He spoke up, “1 billion have been used so far. There were many resources that we lacked, so we had to buy them from various Star Cities.”
Yang Kai nodded, “Good. Don’t worry about the money.”
Then, he looked out the door, only to see the Proprietress and Bai Qi coming into the hall.
Hurriedly, Yang Kai went over and asked, “What’s wrong?”
With a smile, the Proprietress replied, “I’m leaving, so I’m here to bid you farewell.”
“You’re leaving?” Yang Kai’s expression changed, “Where are you going?”
Smilingly, the Proprietress replied, “Where else can I go other than First Inn? I’m the Proprietress of First Inn, but I’ve been absent for nearly a year. If I don’t go back, my superiors will reprimand me.”
Yang Kai pressed his lips together, “It’s not worth staying in First Inn. Why don’t you resign and join Void Land? You can do whatever you want here.”
He genuinely didn’t want the Proprietress to go. Besides the fact that she had been treating him well and was protective of him, Void Land was in the midst of a re-birth, and they needed a lot of people. While she was a Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, Bai Qi was a Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master. If they could stay, the collective power of Void Land would increase significantly.
The Proprietress raised her hand and poked his forehead, “Do you think First Inn is a place where we can come and go as we please?”
Yang Kai stepped backward upon impact, then he realised a problem as he frowned, “In fact, I’m also from First Inn…”
The Proprietress scoffed, “You’re not really from First Inn. You worked for me for a short period of time because you owed us money. Now that you’ve repaid your debt, First Inn will have nothing to do with you. Wherever you go, don’t tell people that you’re from First Inn.”
The reason Yang Kai joined First Inn was that when the top cultivators were trying to snatch the Golden Crow carcass, they got into a fight and destroyed the inn.
Then, the Proprietress threatened Yang Kai to repay 10 million Open Heaven Pills for the chaos he caused. At that time, he was flat broke, and 10 million was an astronomical figure to him.
After they arrived at the Star City, she told him to collect debts from various shops. The progress was good as he managed to repay some debt through this work; however, he was certain that the debt hadn’t been repaid in full.
The reason the Proprietress said this was that she wanted to separate Yang Kai from First Inn so that he wouldn’t be held down; after all, if he kept the title of First Inn’s shop-hand and founded Void Land, people would wonder if this place belonged to him or First Inn.
Fully aware of her intentions, Yang Kai felt warm in his heart.
However, the reason he could be easily separated from First Inn was that he didn’t have much to do with the inn to begin with. However, that wasn’t the case for the Proprietress. She was the famous Madam Lan from First Inn, known throughout the 3,000 Worlds.
Knowing that he couldn’t make her stay, Yang Kai sighed and fished out a Space Ring, “These are the gifts I’ve prepared for chef and accountant. Please bring it to them for me.”
After taking the ring, the Proprietress scanned it and realised that it contained some Fifth-Order resources, which the chef and accountant needed.
She didn’t have many subordinates, but there was no doubt that Bai Qi, the accountant, and the chef were her trusted aides as they had worked for her for a long time. Without any exception, all three of them had condensed Fifth-Order Elements. Bai Qi’s progress was swift as he was the first one to reach the Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm, but while the chef and accountant were slightly slower, they only lacked one to two Element Powers now.
Yang Kai was already aware of that in the past, so it wasn’t difficult for him to prepare these materials. He still had an abundance of Fifth-Order materials in possession, so he didn’t mind giving out some.
“Since you’re rich now, I’ll not turn you down. After they ascend to the Open Heaven Realm, I’ll tell them to come over and thank you.” As the Proprietress spoke, she put away the Space Ring.
The Proprietress was a decisive woman, so left right after she announced she would. Yang Kai and Yue He saw them off. It wasn’t until they saw them leaving Void Land and using the Universe Transference Law that they turned around and returned.
After trading glances, they felt somewhat hollow within themselves.
Void Land remained bustling. Every day, countless resources were being thrown into the construction of the Grand Array. Chen Tian Fei and Lu Xue didn’t have much time to rest because they needed to go out and purchase many of the necessary materials. Usually, a few days after they returned to Void Land, they would have to leave again.
Presently, there were not many powerful cultivators in Void Land. The strongest ones were Yue He, Lu Xue, and Chen Tian Fei. They couldn’t depend on Zhu Jiu Yin because she was still healing her Source.
Due to the fact that Yue He was in charge of the Array Jade and finances, she had to stay in Void Land. Chen Tian Fei and Lu Xue were powerful cultivators as they were in the Fourth-Order Open Heaven Realm, but now they had no choice but to run errands.
Everything seemed on track, and all Yang Kai had to do was wait, so he thought that it was time to return to the Star Boundary.
As long as the problem the Star Boundary was facing wasn’t solved, he could never set his mind at ease. After some calculations, Yang Kai realised that it had been 15 years since he left the Star Boundary. Before he departed, the Star Boundary was already in an unstable state as its World Principles had been severely damaged. He and the other Great Emperors had come up with some ways to slow down the disintegration of the Star Boundary, but they couldn’t fundamentally solve the problem. There would come a time when these methods lost their effectiveness.
A long time had passed, so Yang Kai wondered whether the Star Boundary was still alright.
In any case, it made no difference whether he was here during the reconstruction of Void Land. Yue He just needed to stay here and work with Grandmaster Wu Liang. Yang Kai estimated that when he returned from the Star Boundary, the Nine Heavenly Layers would have been completed. With this in mind, he summoned Yue He and told her about it.
Without trying to stop him, Yue He said, “Young Master, you can leave, but please take Chen Tian Fei or Lu Xue with you. Without one of them by your side, I will not be able to rest at ease.”
After all, Yang Kai was just an Emperor Realm Junior. If he travelled across the 3,000 Worlds on his own, he would face a lot of danger. If he had a Fourth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master by his side, it would save him a lot of trouble.
With a smile, Yang Kai replied, “There’s no need. We need more people in Void Land now, and Fatty Chen Tian and Lu Xue are important people. With them around, the progress of the construction will be faster. I’m just going back to attend to some personal matters, so I don’t need anyone to come with me.”
Certainly, Yue He wouldn’t agree to it. Then, she suggested that even if he didn’t want Chen Tian Fei or Lu Xue to go with him, he had to bring her along.
That was practically impossible as she had to stay in this place to coordinate with Grandmaster Wu Liang. Anyone could leave but her.
After a long argument, Yue He refused to back down one bit and wouldn’t allow Yang Kai to leave Void Land on his own. Left with no choice, he agreed to her suggestion.
It was then Yue He decided that Lu Xue would follow him; after all, she was a woman who was more meticulous, so she should be able to take better care of Yang Kai.
“Tell Guo Zi Yan to go with you as well,” Yue He said.
Yang Kai burst into laughter, “He’s just in the Second-Order Open Heaven Realm. What’s the point of him following me?”
Lu Xue was a Fourth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, so she would be useful if they came across any danger; however, as a Second-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, Guo Zi Yan was too weak.
Yue He snorted, “I don’t care. If you take Lu Xue with you, Guo Zi Yan will also have to follow you!”
After gazing at her for a moment, Yang Kai suddenly realised what was on her mind, then he nodded in agreement, “Good. I’ll take the two of them with me.”
Then, he secretly sighed and thought that Void Land was in the midst of rebuilding, so it was inappropriate for him to take two of their very few Open Heaven Realm Masters away at this point. However, he was unable to persuade Yue He, so he could only agree to it.
Before he set off on his journey, he fished out a glowing fruit and passed it to her.
Yue He took it and frowned, “This is…” Upon sensing it, she felt a rich World Force coming from it.
“It’s a World Fruit.”
With her eyes widening, Yue He exclaimed, “A World Fruit?”
She was a Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, so she had heard of World Fruits before; however, those amazing treasures were supposed to exist only in legends. It never crossed her mind that she would see it with her eyes one day, not to mention that she was holding it in her hands.
“This is a Mid-Rank World Fruit. After I’m gone, refine it when you’re free. It will be beneficial to you,” Yang Kai said casually.
He had 16 World Fruits, but only 3 of them were Mid-Rank ones. Mid-Rank World Fruits were best consumed by Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters. After taking it and refining its medicinal efficacies, a Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master could directly ascend to the Sixth-Order. Certainly, Fourth-Order and Third-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters could consume one as well, but the benefits would not be as great. As for Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, it was useless for them to take it.
“Did you get it from the Primordial Land?” Yue He asked in shock.
She was fully aware of the rewards he had obtained in the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary, but she had never heard that he had gotten a World Fruit. The only possibility was that he had acquired it in the Primordial Land.
In response, Yang Kai nodded his head.
“Young Master, this is too precious. I can’t accept it!” Then, Yue He hurriedly pushed the World Fruit back to him.
Yang Kai said, “Just use it. I have many of them.”
“You’re lying!” Yue He pursed her lips, “Although I’ve never seen World Fruits before, I know that everyone only has one chance to obtain a fruit from the World Tree in their lifeti… Why do you have so many?”
As she spoke, she gazed at Yang Kai’s palms in shock, for there were more World Fruits on them.
Yang Kai grinned meaningfully, “Do you believe me now? By improving your cultivation, it will be beneficial to Void Land. Unfortunately, most of the World Fruits I have are just Low-Rank ones, which are not that valuable. If all of them were Mid-Rank, I could produce a group of Mid-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters.”
A stunned Yue He asked, “Why do you say Low-Rank World Fruits are not valuable?”
Yang Kai explained, “A Low-Rank World Fruit can only help a cultivator ascend to the Third Order, which is why it’s not worth a lot of money.”
Yue He stared blankly for a moment before she burst into a fit of giggles, “Young Master, you’re mistaken. It’s true that a Low-Rank World Fruit can only help a cultivator ascend to the Third-Order, but it will also extend their limit for growth. This kind of benefit is simply invaluable.”
“What do you mean?” Yang Kai arched his brow.
Yue He lifted the Mid-Rank World Fruit in her hand, “Take me as an example. I’m now in the Fifth-Order, and my limit is the Seventh-Order. That’s because if I consume too many Open Heaven Pills, they will stop having any benefits for me. However, if I consume this World Fruit, I’ll ascend to the Sixth Order directly, and the limit to which Open Heaven Pills can take me will also ascend to the Eighth Order.”
“Does it work that way?” Yang Kai was astounded.
“A Low-Rank World Fruit can help a Low-Rank Open Heaven Realm Master to directly ascend to the next Order, so that benefit alone isn’t valuable. Nevertheless, many people would pay anything to extend their upper limit.”
“I see,” Upon hearing her explanation, Yang Kai realised that he had severely underestimated the value of these Low-Rank World Fruits. He used to believe that these ten or so fruits were useless.
Now, it seemed that they were also treasures, which made him feel ecstatic as though he had received a windfall.
Clenching the World Fruit in her hand, Yue He pressed her lips together and said, “I’ll keep this World Fruit, then. Many thanks, Young Master.”
Earlier, she had no idea that Yang Kai possessed so many World Fruits, so she didn’t have the heart to consume such a precious treasure. Now that she became aware of the real situation, she decided not to turn him down. Just like what he had said, if she ascended to the Sixth Order, it would be beneficial to Void Land. It had been several hundred years since she made her initial breakthrough to the Fifth Order, and once she ascended to the Sixth Order with this World Fruit, her accumulation so far would also be brought forward as well, so by then, she would only be one step away from the Seventh-Order, which was already the High-Rank Open Heaven Realm.
After everything was settled, Yang Kai summoned Lu Xue and Guo Zi Yan, then they shot into the sky.
Upon leaving Void Land, Lu Xue summoned an artifact that looked like a windmill. After they entered it, the windmill turned into a ray of light as Lu Xue drove it across the void.
The 3,000 Worlds were expansive, and each Great Territory was connected with at least one other.
In fact, Yang Kai wasn’t certain about the location of the Star Boundary. He had bought a Universe Chart from a big Star City, and since then, he had been trying to figure out the exact location of the Star Boundary. Even though he still wasn’t sure about it, he had found three likely locations.
Left with no choice, they could only search these places one by one. Yang Kai secretly prayed that one of these locations would turn out to be correct. If all of them were wrong, he wouldn’t know what to do.
Judging from the distance, the Star Boundary was supposed to not be far away from Void Land. That was because not long after he and Zhang Ruo Xi left the Star Boundary, they came across a Myriad Facets Insect. They were separated after they were swallowed by the giant insect. Yang Kai fell into a Great Territory where he was tricked by the Venerable of Fire Spirit Land, Duan Hai, and brought to Seven Wonders Land.
Inside the windmill, Yang Kai pointed out the direction for Lu Xue so that she could chart a course forward.
They went on to pass through several Great Territories. On their way, they came across some danger as well as some Space Beasts. They would avoid them as best as they could and if there was no other choice, they would fight.
Two or three months later, they arrived in a particular Great Territory.
Lu Xue was heard saying, “Sir, we’ve arrived.”
This Great Territory was Yang Kai’s first destination. Upon hearing that, he stepped out of the windmill and looked around with a hopeful gaze.
However, he discovered nothing. With that said, he wasn’t disappointed. After all, a Great Territory was vast, so the Star Boundary might be hidden in a particular corner of this place. It was expected that he couldn’t see it right away.
Moreover, he was a native of the Star Boundary, and titled as Void Great Emperor having obtained part of the World’s Will. If the Star Boundary was really in this Great Territory, as long as they were not too far apart, Yang Kai would be able to sense a connection to it.
As such, he told Lu Xue to keep looking around in this Great Territory as he scanned the surroundings.
One month later, Yang Kai sighed and conceded, “Let’s go to the next location.”
The Star Boundary wasn’t in this Great Territory. Over the past month, he had searched around the entire Great Territory, but still discovered nothing.
After a nod, Lu Xue followed the direction Yang Kai pointed and headed to the next destination.
More than ten days later, in a particular place in the void, an epic battle came to an end. Lu Xue was panting as her chest heaved and there was a huge cut on Guo Zi Yan’s waist as he was almost split in two.
Although Yang Kai appeared to be unharmed, his face was pale. After he coughed a little, blood started streaming out of his mouth.
While travelling across the void, they would come across danger from time to time, and this time, they were truly unlucky as they had bumped into a pack of more than 10 Star Flame Colts. These Space Beasts seemed to have gone mad as they relentlessly chased after the 3 of them. Left with no choice, they could only stand and fight.
After the Beasts were killed, all three of them were injured. Even Lu Xue’s windmill had been damaged.
Yang Kai hated the fact that they suffered such a setback even before they found the Star Boundary.
Lu Xue cleaned the blood from her cold water longsword and said, “Sir, we have to go to a Universe Temple to recuperate.”
Yang Kai nodded, “Let’s go.”
Given the condition they were in, it was not appropriate for them to keep going. If they came across any danger again, they wouldn’t be able to ward it off. Fortunately, there was a Universe Temple in this Great Territory, so they could take a rest there.
Of course, their main purpose was to repair Lu Xue’s artifact. Without this flight-type artifact, they would need to expend a lot more energy to navigate through the void.
Yang Kai had never been to the Universe Temple in this Great Territory, but it was a different case for Lu Xue.
According to her, before joining Scarlet Star, she had once wandered around the 3,000 Worlds on her own with only her sword for over 100 years. During this period of time, she had visited many Great Territories and left her Imprint at their Universe Temples.
This made things simpler. After Yang Kai and Guo Zi Yan entered the Six Fated Paths Bag, Lu Xue stored the bag and activated the Universe Transference Law. A few breaths later, they arrived at the local Universe Temple.
Universe Temples and Star Cities were different. A Star City was a place where cultivators could trade and communicate with one another. On the other hand, a Universe Temple was strategically valuable. That was the reason Universe Temples were firmly controlled by the Cave-Heavens and Paradises.
Nevertheless, a Universe Temple also had some functionalities of a Star City. Cultivators could take a rest here and buy some goods; however, the prices were usually higher, and the selection of goods were not as wide, so it wasn’t comparable to a Star City in this regard.
Upon entering the Universe Temple, Lu Xue released Yang Kai and Guo Zi Yan. The three of them then found an inn and settled down. They intended to rest for a few days before continuing their journey.
Meanwhile, in one of the shops in the Universe Temple, a stern-looking yet thin middle-aged man was bargaining with the shopkeeper. Both of them seemed to be familiar with one another, and they probably had had some business deals in the past, which was why neither of them was over-passionate when bargaining. Instead, they were bartering back and forth in a calm manner.
The shopkeeper knew that the middle-aged man needed the goods in his shop, so he wasn’t worried about the latter lowering the price and dealt with him dispassionately.
All of a sudden, the middle-aged man sensed something as he grunted and turned to look in a particular direction.
The shopkeeper shot him a glance and smiled, “Hei He, it’s not that I want to make a huge profit. As you can see, the cost of this thing is really high. If I agree to your price, I’ll suffer a loss. It’s been 100 years since we got to know each other. When have I ever ripped you off? I only make a small profit every time I make a deal with you.”
A glint of surprise flashed through the eyes of the man called Hei He, then he turned his head back and nodded, “I’ll agree to the price you’ve come up with.”
The shopkeeper was stunned as he had never expected that Hei He would agree to it so easily; after all, the item was pretty expensive, and there was still room to bargain. He was ready to haggle with Hei He, but it never crossed his mind that the latter would simply agree to the price before he even made a counteroffer.
However, that was the outcome he wanted to see, so with a bright smile, he replied, “Brother He, you’re indeed a straightforward person. Wait a moment. I’ll get your items right now.”
Then, he rose from the chair and entered the storehouse. A moment later, he returned with a Space Ring. Both of them examined the ring, and upon making sure that nothing was wrong, the ring was sold to Hei He. Without intending to stay in the shop any longer, he left and took some twists and turns in the Universe Temple. Soon, he arrived at an inn, and after looking up for a moment, he nonchalantly stepped inside.
Inside the inn, Yang Kai and the others checked into a room. Before they settled down, Lu Xue hurriedly left to look for someone to repair her windmill artifact; after all, they had to rely on this artifact to move across the Great Territories. It would be exhausting for them if they didn’t have this artifact.
On the other hand, Yang Kai and Guo Zi Yan remained in the room and adjusted their breathing.
A few days later, their injuries were mostly healed, while Lu Xue’s artifact was being repaired, but they would have to wait for half a month before the repairs were complete.
Although Yang Kai was eager to return to the Star Boundary, there was nothing he could do in this situation; therefore, he decided to wait patiently. Since he had arrived at this Universe Temple, he certainly had to leave his Imprint here.
Then, he left the inn with Guo Zi Yan and Lu Xue as they headed to the Grand Array in the centre of the Universe Temple.
If a cultivator wanted to leave their Imprint at a Universe Temple, they would need to cough up 100,000 Open Heaven Pills. The price was the same throughout the 3,000 Worlds, no more, and certainly no less.
100,000 Open Heaven Pills was a lot of money, but a Universe Temple could save a person’s life at a critical moment; therefore, any wealthy cultivator wouldn’t be stingy when it came to leaving their Imprint in a Universe Temple.
However, there was no way a cultivator would leave an Imprint in only one Universe Temple, so paying 100,000 pills each time eventually led to a staggering expenditure.
So far, Yang Kai had spent more than 1 million pills on Universe Temples. In other words, he had left a Brand in more than 10 different Universe Temples at the very least.
In fact, Yang Kai was very interested in how Universe Temples worked; after all, it had something to do with the Dao of Space as one could instantly move to a Universe Temple from a faraway place. Even though he could use Instantaneous Movement as well, the distance he could travel was vastly inferior to that of the Universe Transference Law.
In any Great Territory, as long as a Universe Temple existed, the Universe Transference Law could resonate with it regardless of the distance. Yang Kai’s Instantaneous Movement was no match for it in this regard, and even his Space Beacons were inferior to it.
The distance where he could move from one Space Beacon to another was limited.
Yang Kai had a feeling that if he could unravel the mysteries of the Universe Temples, his mastery of the Dao of Space would be greatly improved.
However, there were some downsides as well. Although the Universe Transference Law was profound and abstruse, and everyone could freely learn it, it took a few breaths of time to activate it.
Yang Kai had seen a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master using the Universe Transference Law. He was the owner of First Inn, yet even someone as powerful as that needed a few breaths of time to activate the Secret Technique.
In a life-or-death battle, one’s opponents would never give them so much time to flee.
The time needed was one drawback, while the pressure was another. The further the Universe Temple was, the more pressure a cultivator would feel when using the Universe Transference Law. If that pressure exceeded their limits, even if they successfully activated it, they might be torn apart during the transfer process.
That wasn’t unprecedented. Many cultivators were left with no choice but to use the Universe Transference Law at critical moments. Although they had gotten rid of their opponents, what arrived at the Universe Temple were battered corpses.
Despite the downsides, the Universe Transference Law was still widely adopted throughout the 3,000 Worlds. It was a Secret Technique most cultivators used to move to Universe Temples to save travel time or flee from their enemies.
After spending 200,000 Open Heaven Pills, Yang Kai and Guo Zi Yan respectively left their Imprints in this Universe Temple.
After leaving the place, they were not in a rush to return to the inn. Since they had nothing to do, they decided to roam around.
It wasn’t the first time Yang Kai visited a Universe Temple, but he had never been to this one before. Unlike a Star City, the shops around here were limited, as was the goods selection. Moreover, the prices were generally higher than average.
When they passed by an accessories store, Yang Kai thought of something and entered it.
He believed that he couldn’t return to the Star Boundary empty-handed. Other people didn’t matter, but he had to bring some gifts to his wives, father, and mother.
Then, he started counting, [Su Yan, Xia Ning Chang, Shan Qing Luo, Xue Yue, Yu Ru Meng, Father, Mother, Little Sister Yang Xue… There are indeed many people. By the way, there’s also Ji Yao… Besides them, there are also Mo Xiao Qi, Lin Yun’er, and the others…]
Naturally, the things that were sold in the shop were not ordinary accessories. Each one of them was an artifact. There were many kinds of accessories with different uses, and although the prices were expensive, Yang Kai didn’t mind it as he wasn’t short of Open Heaven Pills.
He was willing to pay a hefty price to build the Nine Heavenly Layers, so these artifacts in this shop were nothing.
Then, a young woman that looked like a maidservant came over. With a sweet smile, she elegantly welcomed them to the shop. Her voice was clear, and there was a pleasant scent wafting from her body, which easily made people take a liking to her.
The young woman was weak as she was just an Emperor Realm cultivator; nevertheless, she had been working in this shop for a long time, so she immediately realised that Yang Kai was no ordinary man, which was why she was very hospitable to him.
Yang Kai looked around the shelves as the young woman introduced each item to him in detail in her pleasant voice.
Soon, Yang Kai was attracted to a Phoenix-shaped hairpin, and he couldn’t help thinking about Su Yan. This hairpin appeared elegant, which should match her temperament; moreover, it happened to be a defensive artifact.
Su Yan and the others were still weak, so they couldn’t draw out the power of killing artifacts; however, these defensive artifacts could save their lives in a perilous situation.
Yang Kai decided to buy each of them a defensive artifact.
Just as he was extending his hand towards the hairpin though, a big hand suddenly whizzed past him and took the hairpin first.
Yang Kai turned his head, only to see a scrawny yet stern-looking man staring at him. As their eyes met, the man flashed a smile at Yang Kai and nodded, “Little Brother, are you interested in this?”
With a smile, Yang Kai replied, “Yes.”
The middle-aged man said, “What a coincidence. This King had his eyes on this item as well. Can you give it to me?”
“The item is in your hand now. You’ve taken it first, so it’s yours. It’s not like you need to ask me to give it to you,” Yang Kai replied nonchalantly.
“Many thanks, then.” The middle-aged man guffawed, “Little Brother, you’re a generous man. What’s your name?”
“We don’t really know each other, so there’s no point asking.” Yang Kai shook his head, then hinted at the maidservant to keep going.
The maidservant seemed to be annoyed at the fact that a business deal had been ruined by the middle-aged man, who disturbed Yang Kai halfway through; therefore, she became more attentive when serving Yang Kai.
Soon, Yang Kai bought a lot of accessories as the smile on the maidservant’s face became brighter.
After the bill was paid, Yang Kai stored all the items inside his Space Ring, then left the shop with Lu Xue and Guo Zi Yan. Following that, he saw a person looking smilingly at him outside the shop.
He was none other than the man who snatched the Phoenix-shaped hairpin.
A shocked Yang Kai gazed at him and asked, “Sir, are you waiting for me?”
The middle-aged man replied, “Yes.”
“What for?” Yang Kai asked curiously.
That person said, “This King felt sorry that he snatched your accessory just now, so I’d like to treat you to a meal. Will you come with me?”
Yang Kai laughed and shook his head, “Sir, it is no serious matter. You took the hairpin first, so it belongs to you. It’s not like you snatched it from me. As for the meal… There’s no need for that. I have other matters to attend to, so I’ll part with you here.”
Upon finishing his words, he cupped his fist and left the place with Lu Xue and Guo Zi Yan.
Seeing as Yang Kai turned him down, the middle-aged man didn’t mind it as he smilingly watched Yang Kai leave.
A moment later, they returned to the inn and entered the room, then Lu Xue said, “Sir, I’m worried that he has some ill intentions.”
Guo Zi Yan nodded in agreement, “I have the same feeling as well. That guy looks wicked. It’s said that a person’s appearance is indicative of his temperament. I’m worried that he’s a thug.”
Yang Kai asked, “Do either of you know that guy?”
Both of them shook their heads to mean that they had never seen that person before.
The 3,000 Worlds was boundless, and there were countless cultivators living in it. Although Lu Xue had wandered for over 100 years, and she could be considered an experienced person, she couldn’t possibly recognise a person that had nothing to do with her.
As for Guo Zi Yan, he was just a Second-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, and his experience and knowledge were rather limited.
“Sir, I reckon that man is in the Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm,” Lu Xue said in a grim voice.
Although the middle-aged man never released any aura, which made it impossible for anyone to tell his exact cultivation, Lu Xue still felt pressured in his presence. She was in the Fourth-Order Open Heaven Realm, thus any person who could make her feel pressured must be at least in the Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm.
Solemnly, Yang Kai nodded his head. Facing a Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, Lu Xue and Guo Zi Yan would be powerless. If that person really had some ill intentions, things would be troublesome.
However, that was just their most conservative estimate. If that man was in the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm, things would become even more thorny.
“I don’t think he’ll harm us, but we can’t lower our guard.” After giving it a thought, Yang Kai secretly spoke to Lu Xue and Guo Zi Yan. Then, they nodded and left the place.
Half a month later, Lu Xue retrieved her windmill artifact, but they were not in a rush to continue their journey. Only two months later did they leave the inn and set off.
A few days later, a gigantic Territory Gate came into their sight. The windmill shot into it and disappeared.
An incense stick after Yang Kai and the others passed through the Territory Gate, a ray of light suddenly shot forward from afar and landed in front of the swirling portal before a figure revealed himself.
He was none other than the stern-looking middle-aged man Yang Kai had come across in the Universe Temple. Staring at the Territory Gate, he muttered, “Have they entered it? Hmph! They’ll not shake me off so easily.”
Upon finishing his words, he plunged into the Territory Gate as his World Force turned into a layer of defence, which helped him resist the pressure coming from the Void.
There was a risk associated with passing through a Territory Gate. Normally, only cultivators in the Mid-Rank Open Heaven Realm could move through one without needing any external protection. For people below the Mid-Rank, if they didn’t have some kind of special artifact or Secret Technique to assist them, they would be crushed inside by the horrible pressure.
Despite the fact that the man was in the Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm, he still felt his Soul shaking and was a little dizzy when moving through the Territory Gate.
Nevertheless, he had experienced this countless times, so he wasn’t flustered. In order not to alert anyone, he didn’t use an artifact as that would be far more conspicuous. Soon, as the world around him spun around, he found that he had arrived at a different Great Territory.
Before he even stabilised himself though, he felt a piercing sword light coming at him from the side.
Horrified, the middle-aged man immediately realised that he had been ambushed, and the person making a move was just as powerful as he was, but just who would ambush him in such a place?
There was no time for him to further ponder on it as he hurriedly flew backwards; however, the sword light relentlessly pursued him.
Usually, given his heritage, he could easily ward off such an attack; after all, he was fairly strong. Nevertheless, he had just passed through a Territory Gate, which shook his Soul and Small Universe slightly, temporarily reducing his strength by about 30%.
Then, the sword light directly broke through his layer of protection and slashed across his body.
His clothes fell apart and his blood spurted out of his wound. There was a forearm-length cut on his chest now that was bone deep.
At that moment, he was reeling from the shock. If he hadn’t flown backwards and stalled for time to use a defensive Secret Technique, the sword light would have critically injured him.
With that said, he was still feeling awful at this moment. He could feel Sword Intent penetrating his wound so he had to divert some of his energy and focus to suppress it to prevent his wound from worsening.
Right then, another figure came at him from the side. With a shield engraved with a Dragon pattern, he crashed into the unsuspecting middle-aged man, who lost his balance and was swept away by the immense force. At the same time, he sprayed out a mouthful of blood.
Just then, he saw a sword light flashing through his eyes as countless sword shadows engulfed him. Every one of them seemed intent on killing him on the spot.
It was at this moment that the middle-aged man finally collected himself. With a great roar, he raised his hand and summoned an artifact that looked like a shovel. Upon surging his World Force, he wielded the shovel and shattered the sword lights.
In the end, he was still a Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master who had remained in this realm for quite some time. He was slightly injured due to the ambush, but after pulling himself together, he was able to display his powerful heritage.
The attacker with the Dragon-patterned shield dashed towards him as he raised the shield and brought it down.
The middle-aged man bellowed, “How dare a Third-Order insect dare act so impudent in front of this King!”
Although he couldn’t make out the people ambushing him, as his Divine Sense permeated the surroundings, he could sense that the people fighting against him were respectively in the Fifth-Order and the Third-Order Open Heaven Realm.
Naturally, he was wary of the Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master as he was in the same Realm, but he couldn’t believe that a mere Third-Order Open Heaven Realm cultivator had the guts to fight him, which infuriated him.
Then, he extended his hand into the void and grabbed an artifact that looked like a whip. The sound of a weltering river was heard coming from the whip as pure Water Element Power erupted. This artifact seemed to have been refined from a real river.
Hei He wielded the whip and lashed the huge shield. The loud clanging sound suggested that the shield was unable to withstand the attack and cracks started appearing on its face. On the other hand, the shield’s owner was sent flying away like a sack. His figure kept spinning around in the void as he sprayed out a mouthful of blood.
It was extremely difficult for a Third-Order Open Heaven Realm Master to withstand the blow of a Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, and if it weren’t because the shield was an excellent defensive artifact, he would have been killed after that one strike.
Although he wasn’t at risk of losing his life at the moment, his Small Universe was trembling violently from the impact, making it impossible for him to keep fighting.
Nevertheless, his sacrifice wasn’t in vain. It had allowed the shattered sword lights to condense again and slash across the middle-aged man countless times.
As blood spurted out of his wounds, Hei He was horrified.
A single mistake at the outset of the battle had forced him into an almost impossible position. The ambush outside the Territory Gate made him lose the initiative, and put him at a complete disadvantage.
[Who are these people ambushing me?] Blood slid down his forehead and blurred his vision as he looked around and soon saw a person gazing at him in silence from a nearby place.
His pupils contracted as he exclaimed, “It’s you!”
That person was none other than Yang Kai.
Presently, Yang Kai was standing there with a dispassionate expression, his lips curled up as he sneered, “Hei He, this King has been waiting for you.”
Seeing as the other person directly called out his name, the middle-aged man was furious and roared, “How did you find out this King’s background?”
Yang Kai scoffed, “It’s not like no one in the Universe Temple knows who you are. I just had to ask around to find out your identity.”
After they returned from the accessories shop on that day, he told Lu Xue and Guo Zi Yan to ask around. Both of them were seasoned people, so it wasn’t difficult for them to secretly gather some information.
Upon learning the truth, Yang Kai was astounded, for the person who wanted to treat him to a meal was Hei He Heavenly Monarch!
He had never met or heard of Hei He Heavenly Monarch before, but the name ‘Hei He’ made him put his guard up.
If Yang Kai wasn’t mistaken, he might have some grudges with Hei He and the origin of this dispute was Fang Tai, who was taken to Fire Spirit Land with Yang Kai in Seven Wonders Land in the past.
Fang Tai was a Worker in Fire Spirit Land, and just like Yang Kai, was coerced into joining Seven Wonders Land by Duan Hai. He claimed that he was from Black River World, and he possessed a Faith Token left behind by his ancestors.
(TL note: Hei He = Black River)
After leaping out of his Universe World, Fang Tai arrived in the 3,000 Worlds. Naturally, he wanted to use his Faith Token to look for his Seniors and seek their protection; unfortunately, he was brought to Seven Wonders Land and became little more than a slave.
Apparently, Duan Hai was also aware of Hei Hei Heavenly Monarch’s existence and knew if word got out that he had made his Junior a slave, Hei He would not let him off. To save himself from any potential trouble, Duan Hai set up Fang Tai by letting him flee from Seven Wonders Land, then branding him a traitor and having Yang Kai hunt him down.
Yang Kai still remembered that he was accompanied by two Low-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters at that time. They found Fang Tai and Yang Kai fought him one-on-one, eventually killing him with his spear.
It was also during that time when Yang Kai came across Xu Huang, which led to the turmoil in Seven Wonders Land.
Xu Huang was a Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, and when Yang Kai was killing Fang Tai, he was observing the battle in the dark and realised that something was off. At that time, he told Yang Kai that there was a restriction in Fang Tai’s body that would mark whoever killed him with a Brand. Unless Yang Kai could ascend to the Open Heaven Realm, he would never be able to get rid of this Brand.
The biggest use of the Brand was to point out the murderer, and if Yang Kai bumped into the Brand’s owner, the latter would immediately notice it.
For the longest time, Yang Kai had never cared about this; after all, the Outer Universe was vast, so it was unlikely that he would chance upon the Brand’s owner.
However, it just so happened that he came into contact with that person. Upon hearing the title ‘Hei He Heavenly Monarch’, Yang Kai immediately realised what was going on.
Fang Tai was from Black River World, and this Hei He was probably the one who had left a Brand in Fang Tai’s body.
In that case, the fact that Yang Kai had killed Fang Tai must have been exposed. Hei He made it look like he happened to have his eyes on the same accessory as Yang Kai, but in fact, he deliberately approached the latter to find out the extent of his strength.
Upon that realization, Yang Kai became vigilant.
Initially, he intended to leave the Universe Temple after half a month and continued his journey, but in the end, he stayed there for an additional two months because he had to make preparations.
His preparation yielded excellent results as the ambush resulted in Hei He being seriously injured.
Unlike how calm and collected Yang Kai was, presently, Hei He was both furious and shocked. He was furious because he regarded himself as an intelligent person, so he had never expected that he would be set up by this brat. On the other hand, he was shocked because the auras of the two Open Heaven Realm Masters with this boy were vastly different from what he had sensed previously.
When he met this trio earlier, he secretly inspected the cultivation of the two Open Heaven Realm Masters. The woman was in the Fourth Order while the man was in the Second Order at that time. As for Yang Kai, he was just an Emperor Realm Junior, so Hei He paid him no regard at all.
However, after trading moves with these people, he realised that he was very wrong. The man was in the Third-Order instead of Second-Order, but that didn’t really matter. The crux of the problem was that the sword-wielding woman was in the Fifth Order!
Hei He Heavenly Monarch was only a Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, and the woman was just as powerful as he was, so he instantly found himself at a disadvantage after being successfully ambushed.
He now knew that Yang Kai was a wicked and cunning man who told his subordinates to conceal their auras to deceive him. That realisation made him so furious that he was about to spit blood.
He thought that Lu Xue and Guo Zi Yan had used some Secret Technique to restrict their auras, but reality was far different from what he had imagined. Two months ago, Lu Xue was really in the Fourth-Order Open Heaven Realm, while Guo Zi Yan was just in the Second-Order.
The reason they could go through such a transformation in such a short period of time was that they had consumed World Fruits.
The information regarding Hei He gathered by Lu Xue and Guo Zi Yan made Yang Kai have a headache. Fifth Order and Fourth Order were just one Order apart, but the gap in power was akin to the difference between the Heavens and Earth. There was no way Lu Xue was able to defeat Hei He as she was.
It wasn’t like Yang Kai could hide inside the Universe Temple forever. In order to solve this problem, he had to let Lu Xue ascend to the next Order.
However, it was extremely difficult for an Open Heaven Realm Master to achieve a breakthrough. It would normally take centuries of accumulation and cultivation to ascend even one Order. Yang Kai couldn’t possibly wait for such a long time. Fortunately, he had some World Fruits in his possession.
He possessed three Mid-Rank World Fruits. Before leaving Void Land, he had given one of them to Yue He, so he was left with two. Now, his life was hanging by a thread, so he had no choice but to let Lu Xue consume one.
Guo Zi Yan was given a Low-Rank World Fruit.
They were held up in the Universe Temple for two more months because Lu Xue and Guo Zi Yan had to refine the World Fruits.
The World Fruits indeed lived up to their reputation. With the help of these amazing fruits, both of them managed to ascend to the next Order, which allowed them to gain the upper hand in this battle.
However, even though Lu Xue had ascended to the Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm, she still might not be a match for Hei He in a one-on-one fight; after all, she had only just broken through, so her foundation wasn’t stable. She needed a long time of accumulation before she could properly use her strength. On the other hand, Hei He was a veteran Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master. Be it the heritage of his Small Universe or his control of his World Force, Lu Xue wasn’t comparable to him.
Even though they were in the same Order, there was a conspicuous gap between their powers.
With that said, Lu Xue had the capital to fight against him, so following the ambush, she managed to take a decisive advantage.
The battle went on in the void. Lu Xue wielded her weapon as sword light engulfed her opponent. She was doing her best to maintain the advantage she had gained with difficulty, and she wouldn’t dare to be complacent. On the other hand, Guo Zi Yan immediately returned to the battlefield after he was sent flying away. In a battle between two Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, he, a newly promoted Third-Order Open Heaven Realm Master would not be of much use. Even so, he would still be able to distract Hei He’s attention, though the price he had to pay was that he would be struck with a heavy blow every time.
After all, Hei He had a deeper heritage. As the battle went on, he slowly composed himself and soon found a glimmer of hope. During his fight with Lu Xue, he realised that she wasn’t as powerful as she appeared to be. This woman, who was also in the Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm, was clearly weaker than he was. If he went all out, he would be able to defeat her.
However, he feigned ignorance of this reality as he growled and continued retreating, as though he was really no match for her.
On the other hand, Lu Xue was relentless. The power of the Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm mesmerised her as one of her long-held dreams had finally come true, which strengthened her belief that she was right to have chosen to stay in Void Land. If she had left on her own, she would’ve had to cultivate for several hundred more years before she could ascend to the Fifth Order.
Now, she had been granted a precious World Fruit that allowed her to raise her Order directly and increased her growth limit.
In the past, her limit would have been the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm, which was still within the Mid-Rank Open Heaven Realm, but now, her limit was the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm!
It never crossed her mind that she would one day have a chance to experience the wonders of the High-Rank Open Heaven Realm. This made her feel eternally grateful, which was why she was doing her best to ensure Yang Kai’s safety.
As her World Force undulated and streamed into the cold water longsword in her hand, the sword light expanded, and rays of Sword Qi criss-crossed one another, making it extremely difficult for Hei He to parry her attacks.
In the midst of the intense battle, Lu Xue found an opening in Hei He’s defence and thrust her sword forward decisively.
Sword light could be seen glistening as Lu Xue had gone all out in this attack. If Hei He, who was also in the Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm, got struck by it, he would be severely wounded.
Just as the sword was about to stab into him though, Hei He suddenly grinned and wielded his whip as his aura abruptly surged.
In an instant, Lu Xue felt a horrifying force coming at her. Pressured by the World Force, she felt as if she was unable to resist it.
[He was concealing his true power!] Lu Xue was horrified. Instantly, her sword light shattered as Hei He’s whip struck her, drawing a grunt from her lips as her entire figure was shaken. The Small Universe in her body was trembling violently, and her World Force became disordered.
Looking up, she realised that Hei He had thrown her off and was now headed straight towards Yang Kai.
[I was tricked!] Lu Xue clenched her teeth, knowing that she had been fooled. Apparently, Hei He had the power to turn things around all along, but he had been concealing it just to make a move at the most critical moment. His target had always been Yang Kai.
It was apparent that Yang Kai was the leader of this group, and while it wasn’t easy for Hei He to deal with Lu Xue, as long as he could capture Yang Kai, the outcome of the battle would be decided. With Yang Kai in his grasp, he could go or stay as he pleased.
It had to be said that his plan was well thought out. Lu Xue was distracted by her newly obtained Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm power, so she failed to notice this subtle deception, and it was already too late by the time she understood what was happening.
While she was sent flying, Lu Xue grit her teeth as a crack appeared on her glabella. It was as if a third eye had opened on her forehead.
Third Eye Sword!
This was Lu Xue’s trump card. She wouldn’t use it unless absolutely necessary because it consumed a tremendous amount of her energy. Now that Yang Kai was facing a life-or-death crisis though, a guilt-ridden Lu Xue had no other choice.
A faint sword light shot out from her glabella. It wasn’t dazzling or imposing, but despite the fact that it flew forward silently, it was filled with murderous intent. The sword light directly shot towards Hei He’s back.
At the same time, Yang Kai wore a terrified expression as he widened his eyes and staggered backwards while shouting, “Don’t come near me! Otherwise, I won’t go easy on you!”
Seeing as Yang Kai still dared to threaten him, Hei He guffawed, “Brat, since you had the guts to kill my descendant, I’ll make life a living Hell for you today!”
As he extended his hand, he sealed off the space around them, and even the Void seemed to have been suppressed. This was the manifestation of the power of the Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm.
Certainly, Hei He wasn’t oblivious to the fact that the Third Eye Sword was coming at him from behind, but he had the confidence to capture Yang Kai first before dodging the terrifying attack.
Time seemed to have frozen. Lu Xue, who had unleashed her Third Eye Sword, turned pale and shot forward. She appeared to be on pins and needles. Guo Zi Yan ignored his own safety and roared before rushing forward with his shield.
Although they were eager to save Yang Kai, they couldn’t possibly be swifter than Hei He, who had managed to throw both of them off with his little trick.
Seeing as his opponent’s hand was about to reach him, Yang Kai suddenly flashed a cunning smile at Hei He and raised his hand to summon the gourd vine.
Then, he wielded the vine and in an instant, Yin, Yang, and Five Element Powers blended together, mutually strengthening one another and the aura of World Force spread around.
Without hesitation, Yang Kai lashed Hei He with the vine.
“Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm!?” The grin on Hei He’s face froze, and his expression was transformed by shock, for he could feel a Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm aura coming from the vine. He couldn’t help having a doubt in his mind.
[Has this Brat been pretending to be weak this whole time? He looks like an Emperor Realm brat, but he might actually be in the Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm!!]
The moment of shock and hesitation made him lose his only chance. The gourd vine shattered Hei He’s palm print and struck right at his head. A horrified Hei He hurriedly withdrew his whip to parry the blow.
As the vine and the whip clashed, an intense force spread around.
On the gourd vine, the seven small bottle gourds rolled away and fell into a deep sleep. On the other hand, Yang Kai sprayed out a mouthful of blood and was sent flying away.
Although he could activate the gourd vine’s power, this thing could only shock the opponent but couldn’t be used to fight against him; after all, the other party was a real Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master.
After trading moves, Yang Kai immediately suffered serious injuries. He felt all his five viscera and six organs weltering in his body, and many of his bones had cracked.
Nevertheless, it was enough. Although Yang Kai could only make one strike with the gourd vine, he had managed to ward off Hei He and send him flying back.
*Chi…*
Hei He’s expression instantly turned hideous as he sprayed out a blood mist.
This couldn’t be helped. Lu Xue’s Third Eye Sword struck right at his back and formed a cut that stretched from his shoulder to his waist, exposing his battered organs and drawing a copious amount of blood.
If Yang Kai hadn’t made such a surprising move, Hei He could’ve captured him and dodged the Third Eye Sword; however, a moment of hesitation made him lose his chance, and he was subsequently struck by Lu Xue’s attack without being able to defend himself.
Third Eye Sword was Lu Xue’s trump card, so it was expected to be horrendously powerful. Upon impact, Hei He’s aura deflated significantly.
“Cunning brat! This King swears to torture you to death one day!” Hei He bellowed before turning around and fleeing swiftly.
He was severely injured, so he didn’t dare to remain. The most important thing for him now was to look for a place to recuperate. Although he acted threateningly, he was determined to flee. That was because he knew that given the condition he was in, there was no way he could capture Yang Kai. Rather than wasting time here, he reckoned that he should escape now and make a comeback in the future.
Certainly, Yang Kai wouldn’t let him go. Seeing as Hei He had turned into a ray of light, he immediately called out to Lu Xue, “Quickly! Pursue him!”
Lu Xue obediently fished out her windmill artifact, whereupon the three of them dashed inside and chased after Hei He.
Inside the windmill, Lu Xue was still reeling from the shock. Earlier, Yang Kai almost fell into mortal danger because of her negligence. If it weren’t because Yang Kai still had a trump card up his sleeve to save himself at the most critical moment, he would’ve been captured.
Her guilt soon turned into fury as she ignored her injuries and spared no effort to hunt down their opponent. Moreover, Hei He was heavily wounded, so the gap between the two parties was rapidly shortening.
“Take it slow. There’s no rush.” Yang Kai suddenly comforted her as he knew what was on Lu Xue’s mind. Then, he and Guo Zi Yan sat down with their legs crossed and began swallowing pills to heal themselves.
Although the three of them were injured during the battle, Hei He was worse off. That was the result after Lu Xue ascended to the next Order. In the past, if they faced a Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master like Hei He, they would’ve been totally powerless to resist.
Now, the situation was in Yang Kai’s favour. Hei He was on his own, so while he had to flee, he also had to heal his wounds. As long as Yang Kai could keep chasing after him, he would exhaust Hei He and ensure that he couldn’t recover from his injuries. Eventually, Hei He would be forced into a corner.
Apparently, Hei He realised that as well, so he had been trying to shake them off. Nevertheless, he was severely injured, so how was he supposed to achieve that?
The two parties went on to move across half of the Great Territory. While hunting him down, Lu Xue kept sending out horrifying sword waves at him. Due to the distance, she couldn’t really harm him, but Hei He also had to remain focused on dodging and defending himself, so he had no time to recuperate.
“Don’t you cross the line! Do you think this King is unable to fight back? This King will perish together with you all at worst!” Hei He yelled at them in fury.
Standing inside the windmill, Yang Kai scoffed and remained unfazed. Hei He’s behaviour suggested that he indeed didn’t have a way out; otherwise, a Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master would have made such empty threats.
A few days later, after the windmill arrived at a Universe World, they realised that Hei He was nowhere to be found.
The three of them looked down at the Universe World. This place was similar to the Star Boundary. There were countless such Universe Worlds in the 3,000 Worlds and the reason Hei He had disappeared must be that he had snuck into this world.
It had to be said that it was a wise choice. After he entered this Universe World and concealed his aura, it would be like a water drop falling into the ocean. If they didn’t have any special tracking technique, they could never locate him.
Yang Kai and the others didn’t have such a technique. Frowning, Yang Kai gave it a thought for a moment and made a decision, “Go down.”
If he couldn’t kill Hei He this time, there was bound to be more trouble in the future. If Hei He tailed him secretly and found the Star Boundary, things would become thorny.
Upon receiving his order, Lu Xue drove the windmill towards the Universe World.
Every Universe World had an invisible World Barrier. This barrier not only protected the cultivators in this world but also restricted them. Only when their strength reached a certain point could they break free of these restrictions and head to the Outer Universe. Conversely, if an outsider wanted to get in, they had to break through this World Barrier.
Of course, this kind of barrier was nothing to Lu Xue as she could easily break through it. After the windmill was put away, the three of them looked around and realised that Hei He was nowhere to be found. He must have found a place and hid himself.
Nevertheless, Yang Kai had already expected this. If he was Hei He, he would’ve done the same, so after a snort, he shouted to the skies, “Where are the Great Emperors of this world? Present yourselves to me now!”
This world was similar to the Star Boundary, and its World Principles were on the same level, so there must be Great Emperors here. As for the number of Great Emperors, it depended on the capacity of the World’s Bottle.
While Yang Kai was entering this Universe World earlier, he could clearly feel some Divine Senses inspecting him. Obviously, these Divine Senses belonged to the Great Emperors of this world.
The Great Emperors in any Universe World had obtained the World’s Will, which allowed them to borrow its World Force.
It could be said that the Great Emperors were still just Emperor Realm cultivators, and their personal power stayed within that realm, but in their own Universe World, they were able to display the power of the Open Heaven Realm.
After all, the fundamental difference between the Emperor Realm and Open Heaven Realm was the ability to use World Force.
In the past, Great Demon God raised chaos in the Star Boundary. He was able to use the power of the Open Heaven Realm; however, in the Star Boundary, Yang Kai and the other Great Emperors were still able to borrow World Force and kill him.
Usually, when the Great Emperors were in their own Universe Worlds, their strength would be equivalent to the Low-Rank Open Heaven Realm if they went all out; therefore, some Great Emperors were not willing to leave their Universe Worlds, for once they did that, they would lose the ability to utilize World Force.
However, there were some benefits to be gained if they chose to leave, which was a chance to comprehend the secrets of a higher Martial Dao. It was entirely up to them to make that decision.
If Yang Kai wanted to look for Hei He, the best way to do so was to seek help from the Great Emperors in this world as they must be aware of Hei He’s whereabouts.
Nevertheless, Yang Kai felt speechless at the fact that after he called out to them, no one replied. The Great Emperors in this world pretended that they hadn’t heard him. Apparently, they wanted to stay out of this mess.
Firstly, Hei He barged into this world, then Yang Kai and the others raced after him and arrived at this place. Anyone who wasn’t blind could see that this was a fight between Open Heaven Realm Masters, so it was understandable that the Great Emperors of this world were not willing to interfere.
Certainly, Yang Kai wouldn’t give up, so after looking down for a moment, he nodded his head, “This is such a peaceful place. The city here has many residents, and all of them are able to live and work harmoniously together. There are no conflicts at all. The Great Emperors of this world have managed it well.”
Following his gaze, Guo Zi Yan and Lu Xue looked down and saw a city; however, they didn’t understand why he commented on it.
“Destroy this city for me. Make sure no one is left alive!” Yang Kai suddenly pointed at the city with a hideous expression.
Guo Zi Yan and Lu Xue turned to look at him, hardly able to conceal the shock behind their gazes.
It had been quite some time since they started following Yang Kai, and they knew that he wasn’t someone who was blood-thirsty or who killed the innocent for no reason. It could be said that he was a reasonable man, so why was he giving an order like he was a Devil Lord now?
There were more than 1 million people in the city below them. These were over 1 million Humans, not blades of grass.
While Lu Xue was hesitant, Guo Zi Yan cupped his fists and replied solemnly, “Yes.”
Then, he hovered above the city and, ignoring his own injuries, surged his World Force before raising his hand. At that instant, the sky turned dark as a gigantic palm took shape above the city. Following Guo Zi Yan’s movement, the huge palm slowly forced its way down.
While Lu Xue’s heart leapt to her throat, Yang Kai crossed his arms and sneered.
In the city, countless people looked up at the sky in horror. The gigantic palm had shaded all light from them and as it descended, the aura of death filled the air.
The city fell into chaos as people were heard screaming and crying. Although Guo Zi Yan was only in the Third-Order Open Heaven Realm, which was nothing in the 3,000 Worlds, he could easily destroy such a city.
Just as the palm was about to hit the city, someone was suddenly heard yelling, “Stop!”
At the same time, World Force was mobilised as it turned into a dense light and shot towards the enormous palm. Upon impact, the palm became damaged. Consequently, Guo Zi Yan grunted and staggered backwards.
The residents in the city had just escaped from death’s door as they started shouting, “It’s Senior Qi Hai!”
“Senior Qi Hai has come to rescue us!”
“Senior Qi Hai, you have to stand up for us!”
“Senior Qi Hai…”
All of them were cheering for the person called Qi Hai.
Yang Kai snorted and turned to look in a particular direction, only to see an elderly man rapidly approaching him. As he was flying, he wiped away the cold sweat on his forehead.
This elderly man was apparently the ‘Senior Qi Hai’ that these residents had called out.
If possible, he wasn’t willing to meddle in a fight between Open Heaven Realm Masters; however, Yang Kai had threatened to kill the million residents of this city. Therefore, he had to appear even though he wasn’t willing to; after all, he was a Great Emperor who had obtained the World’s Will. If he just let these people perish, he would suffer a backlash from this World.
Yang Kai was also a Great Emperor, so he was fully aware of this. Sometimes, a threat was more effective than persuasion. He didn’t really intend to kill a million people, so even if Qi Hai didn’t make a move in the end, Yang Kai would still tell Guo Zi Yan to stop.
After all, he wasn’t really a Devil Lord. Although the way he did it was extreme, it had to be said that it yielded an excellent result.
“Thousand Inspirations World’s Qi Hai greets Sirs and Madame.” The elderly man flew towards Yang Kai and cupped his fist.
An arrogant Yang Kai was seen with Evil Qi surrounding his face, and his Demon Essence was so ample that it was as though he was really a wicked Devil Lord. Upon shooting him a glance, he sneered, “Why don’t you keep hiding? This King thought you’d never show up.”
Qi Hai brushed away the cold sweat on his forehead and said apologetically, “This Old Master was cultivating in seclusion, so he wasn’t aware of your arrival. Please forgive me for the mistake I’ve made.”
“Since you know you’ve made a mistake, how do you want to die?” Yang Kai’s murderous intent surged.
“What?” Qi Hai was stunned. He didn’t mean what he said, but Yang Kai had taken it seriously, which went to show that the latter was indeed a Devil Lord. Apprehensive, he pleaded, “Sir, please punish me.”
He was a Great Emperor, but he knew that even though they were in Thousand Inspirations World, and he had the blessing of the World Force, he was unable to go against these people.
In a grim voice, Yang Kai continued, “This King should skin you alive, pull out all your tendons, and suck out your Soul to serve as a warning! However, this King has more important matters to attend to, so as long as you are useful to me, I’ll spare your pathetic life for now.”
Qi Hai felt bitter as he had realised Yang Kai’s intention and spoke respectfully, “Sir, please state your orders.”
Yang Kai replied, “This King has been pursuing a great Devil, but he has disappeared all of a sudden. He must have hidden himself here. As a Great Emperor of this world, you must be aware of anyone barging into this world. Point out his location for this King immediately. After dealing with this heinous man, you shall be rewarded.”
[Great Devil? Are you talking about yourself?] Qi Hai mocked Yang Kai in his heart, but he wouldn’t dare to say so out loud. Subserviently, he said, “Sir’s trust in this Old Master’s ability is flattering, but this old man is getting on in years and can’t see clearly…”
Before he could finish his words, Yang Kai bellowed, “Guo Zi Yan, destroy the city for me! No one is to be left alive!”
“Yes, Sir!” Guo Zi Yan grimly said.
“Wait a moment!” Qi Hai exclaimed.
Yang Kai scoffed, “What else do you want to say?”
Certainly, there was nothing else Qi Hai could say. He truly didn’t want to meddle in this fight. Be it Yang Kai or Hei He, he and everyone else in this world couldn’t afford to offend them. Nevertheless, Yang Kai was behaving like a true Devil Lord, so he had no other choice.
He secretly stole a glance at Yang Kai’s grim expression attempting to speak calmly, “Sir, you should know that Thousand Inspirations World is owned by Mirror Flowers Water Moon Land. Everything in this world belongs to them.”
Yang Kai’s expression changed when he heard that, “Mirror Flowers Water Moon Land?”
He immediately recalled the face of a certain petite woman.
Thousand Inspirations World was directly under Mirror Flowers Water Moon Land. In other words, the great force was in this Great Territory, and it wasn’t far away from this place. It was just like Three Brilliances World and Golden Sun Continent, which were directly under Void Land.
Presently, Void Land controlled over ten Universe Worlds, with Three Brilliances World and Golden Sun Continent being just two of them. The products and human resources from these Universe Worlds belonged to Void Land. With these Universe Worlds as their foundation, there would never be a lack of talented people to recruit from, and many of these Universe Worlds might even nurture some rare treasures.
Certainly, Yang Kai was aware of Mirror Flowers Water Moon Land. In the past, when he was trying to snatch the Golden Crow carcass on the Sun Star, he came across a Fourth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master from that great force.
After giving it a thought, he shot a glance at Qi Hai, “Do you know Yuan Xiao Man?”
Hearing that, Qi Hai became elated, “Sir knows Senior Xiao Man?”
Yang Kai grinned, “Of course I know her; however, even if Yuan Xiao Man was here, she wouldn’t dare to disobey this King’s order! Who do you think you are to go against me? Guo Zi Yan, destroy the city, now!”
“Yes!”
“Stop! Stop!” Qi Hai was utterly flustered. The reason he mentioned Mirror Flowers Water Moon Land was to make Yang Kai become wary of the great force behind him; however, it never crossed his mind that Yang Kai had no regard for the great force at all. Despite knowing that this world was directly under Mirror Flowers Water Moon Land, he was still unafraid.
[What have we from Thousand Inspirations World done to deserve this calamity?] Qi Hai was incensed. He and everyone else in this world couldn’t afford to offend such a big shot.
“I’ll lead the way for you! I’ll lead the way for you! Sir, please let us off!” Qi Hai was dejected as he secretly resigned himself. He didn’t know the background of the Open Heaven Realm Master who had snuck into this place earlier, but if he couldn’t appease the Devil Lord before his eyes, the million people in the city below would die.
After weighing the pros and cons, Qi Hai had no choice but to make this decision. He secretly decided that when this incident was over, he would head to Mirror Flowers Water Moon Land and inform his superiors about it.
“You should’ve agreed from the beginning.” Yang Kai snorted, “Lead the way!”
Qi Hai sighed and moved in a particular direction.
Yang Kai summoned Guo Zi Yan, whereupon the three of them followed the elderly man. Soon, they reached an ocean and were hovering above it. Looking down, they saw an island in front of them. Qi Hai stopped moving forward and gave Yang Kai a hint with his eyes.
Upon getting his hint, Yang Kai sneered, “Is this the place? Good, the environment is quite picturesque.”
Then, he released his Divine Sense, but he couldn’t detect Hei He’s aura. This couldn’t be helped as Hei He was a Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master and there was a huge gap between their cultivations. Presently, Hei He was hiding on this island, so without the Great Emperor of this world leading the way, they would never have been able to locate him.
“Scram if you don’t want to die.” Yang Kai waved his hand at Qi Hai, who appeared horrified and ran for his life. Soon, he disappeared into the distance.
To him, leading the way for Yang Kai to locate Hei He was already the best he could do. There was no way he’d meddle in the fight between Open Heaven Realm Masters.
Looking down, Yang Kai asked, “Do you see anything?”
Guo Zi Yan and Lu Xue shook their heads, meaning that they discovered nothing.
Yang Kai knew that there was no way Qi Hai had lied to him. Since he had led them to this place, there shouldn’t have been any mistake, unless Hei He was able to deceive the old man as well.
Nevertheless, that wasn’t likely to happen. As a Great Emperor, Qi Hai had obtained part of the World’s Will, so he could detect any movement happening in this world.
The island was small, and it was basically deserted, so Yang Kai directly waved his hand and ordered, “Flush him out.”
Guo Zi Yan and Lu Xue immediately charged forward as they bombarded the island with their Secret Techniques.
Soon, the island shattered and a faint aura suddenly appeared as a glint flashed across Lu Xue’s eyes, “Found him!”
Her sword slashed across the air, whereupon a radius of ten thousand kilometres of the ocean was immediately frozen.
Following a loud boom, a figure broke through the ice and flew up into the sky. The person appeared battered, and his aura was unsteady. He was none other than Hei He. Previously, he was injured by Lu Xue’s Third Eye Sword, and while he was fleeing, he was repeatedly attacked by her. Even though he was a Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, he was unable to continue like this; otherwise, he wouldn’t have snuck into this world to recuperate.
However, not long after that, his whereabouts were exposed. Both shocked and infuriated, he snarled, “Brat, don’t do too far! We might meet again in the future and there is no blood feud between us, so why are you so determined to ruthlessly kill me?”
Yang Kai snickered, “You are the one who found fault with me first, but now you’re saying such nonsense? Aren’t you ashamed at all?”
Certainly, Hei He wasn’t ashamed. If he had known that Yang Kai had a Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master by his side, he wouldn’t have acted recklessly. He was certain that Yang Kai had killed his Junior, but the dead couldn’t be resurrected, and it was unwise to challenge a fellow Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master for a dead Junior.
Since he was able to ascend to the Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm, there was no way Hei He was an impetuous person; instead, he was adept at examining the situation he was in and making logical decisions. If Lu Xue had revealed her Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm aura earlier, he would’ve pretended that he hadn’t seen Yang Kai. Nevertheless, it was too late to regret it now.
After Hei He was forced to appear, Lu Xue and Guo Zi Yan pounced on him as they joined forces and relentlessly attacked. Guo Zi Yan was just a Third-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, so it was difficult for him to deal with a Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master; nonetheless, Hei He was in a terrible state, so Gui Zi Yan just had to distract him from the side. Most of the pressure was borne by Lu Xue, so he wasn’t in danger.
Things were going south for Hei He. He appeared dejected, and he had a feeling that he might lose his life here on this day. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to flee, but he was unable to do so. At that moment, he was both resentful and regretful as he bellowed, “What do you want? Tell me and I’ll do it for you!”
Yang Kai sneered without saying a word, seemingly determined to end his life.
Hei He felt his heart sinking. Due to Yang Kai’s behaviour, he made up his mind to perish together with them. Despite the fact that he might exhaust himself, he still expended a lot of energy to activate his Secret Techniques to fight back.
Guo Zi Yan was quickly defeated as he sprayed out a mouthful of blood. Earlier, Hei He was holding back his power as he believed he had a chance to survive, so Guo Zi Yan was still able to meddle in the battle. Now that Hei He no longer cared about his own life and was acting recklessly, Guo Zi Yan could not join the battlefield again. Left with no choice, he wandered around the perimeter and sent out some weak Secret Techniques at his opponent.
Following a loud boom, a depression with a diameter of several hundred kilometres appeared on the ocean. The water that had been there evaporated in an instant and a buzzing sound reverberated around the world. Countless Void Cracks appeared and flitted about like a big school of fish.
With two Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters fighting against one another, this world was unable to withstand the impact. Fortunately, the Great Emperors had been secretly observing this battle and continuously mobilised the World Force to dampen the fallout of the battle. Otherwise, all the lives in the ocean would’ve been destroyed by now.
In fact, Hei He had yielded some results by going all out.
It had only been a short time since Lu Xue ascended to the Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm, so she didn’t have enough time to consolidate and solidify her foundation. Previously, the reason she could injure Hei He with her Third Eye Sword was that Yang Kai had caught him off guard by using the gourd vine. Furthermore, it was extremely energy-consuming to use the Third Eye Sword, so she was unable to use it again after such a short period of time.
Soon, she fell into a disadvantage in this fight as her tender body was sent flying away like a sack. While in mid-air, she sprayed out a mouthful of blood, and her aura withered.
[An opening!] Seeing that, Hei He turned around and shot into the sky without hesitation.
Guo Zi Yan wanted to stop him, but he was sent flying away by his whip. Yang Kai pushed his Space Principles and appeared in front of Lu Xue before supporting her weight.
Lu Xue coughed out some blood and said through clenched teeth, “Sir, I can still fight!”
Yang Kai nodded lightly and comforted, “Don’t worry. He can’t escape us.”
Then, he extended his hand into the void and pulled out a bunch of grapes.
As soon as the bunch of grapes appeared, it grew hands and stood akimbo as he guffawing, “Uncle Pu has come!” Soon, he realised that something was off though and glared at Yang Kai, “Brat, what are you trying to do? I’ll fight you!”
He attempted to scratch Yang Kai with his short hands as though he was determined to kill him; however, Yang Kai had already picked a grape from his head and stuffed him back inside the Small Sealed World.
Then, he directly stuffed the grape into Lu Xue’s mouth, “Eat it!”
Without hesitation, Lu Xue gulped it down, and the next instant, her originally listless gaze radiated a powerful glow.
In the Primordial Land, Yang Kai had obtained three Divine Medicines, and they respectively had amazing uses. First, the Profound Multi-Coloured Illusionary Mushroom was able to make people hallucinate, so it was truly extraordinary. He also had the gourd vine. The seven small bottle gourds could nurture Fifth-Order Yin, Yang, and Five Elements Powers. With the help of the gourd vine, he could also make a strike that was equivalent to the might of a Third-Order Open Heaven Realm Master.
Last but not least, even though Pu Bai Xiong wasn’t able to fight, he was a Divine Medicine with grapes that had astonishing healing properties. Yang Kai had consumed two of his grapes before, so he was aware of their potency.
The medicinal efficacies exploded in Lu Xue’s stomach as her physique and meridians were filled with the surging vitality. In an instant, half of Lu Xue’s injuries were healed, and she no longer appeared as listless as before.
“Many thanks, Sir!” Lu Xue said gratefully.
“Pursue him, but don’t kill him,” Yang Kai ordered.
After a nod, she turned into a ray of sword light and disappeared into the sky.
Then, Yang Kai approached Guo Zi Yan and checked on him. Fortunately, he was fine as he had only exhausted himself. Even though he had some injuries, they were not severe. A moment later, both of them also dashed into the sky.
After the three of them were gone, figures started appearing above the ocean, which was still in chaos. With Qi Hai as the leader, there were 9 people in total. They were the Great Emperors of this world.
Gazing at the chaotic battlefield as well as the weltering ocean and broken World Principles, these Great Emperors sported solemn expressions as they were still reeling from the shock. They had done nothing wrong, but calamity still befell them; however, since it was a battle between Open Heaven Realm Masters, there was nothing they could do. Fortunately, the battle only lasted for a short time, so their World hadn’t been severely damaged.
“There’s something here.” One of the Great Emperors discovered something a moment later and extended his hand to grab a Space Ring. After scanning it with his Divine Sense, he became rooted to the spot.
Seeing that, the other Great Emperors quickly asked him what it was, and upon learning the truth, all of them became ecstatic.
This couldn’t be helped, as the Space Ring contained some 50,000 Open Heaven Pills. This was a massive amount of wealth for any Emperor Realm cultivator.
It was impossible for such a ring to appear here for no reason. Someone must have left it on purpose.
After pondering on it for a moment, Qi Hai suddenly burst into laughter, “That boy wasn’t a Devil Lord. He was bluffing the whole time!”
Apparently, the ring was left behind by Yang Kai as a form of compensation for this world. If he were really a wicked Devil Lord, he would’ve just left and ignored the people in this world cursing his name.
As a Great Emperor of this world, Qi Hai wasn’t a fool, so he immediately figured out what was going on after giving it a thought.
However, this was still a serious matter that had to be reported to the great force behind them; therefore, the nine Great Emperors shared the Open Heaven Pills first before holding a discussion. Then, Qi Hai and another female Great Emperor headed to Mirror Flowers Water Moon Land to report what had happened in Thousand Inspirations World.
While Qi Hai and the female Great Emperor were setting off, somewhere in the void, Hei He Heavenly Monarch, appeared dejected as his aura had withered. His body was covered with wounds, and his clothes were soaked in blood. His brow twitched as he was rooted to the spot.
In a nearby place across from him, Lu Xue was staring fixedly at him, but didn’t seize the chance to kill him.
Hei He was fully aware that given the condition he was in, he was no better than a dry oil lamp. If the woman in front of him wanted to end his life, he would be powerless to resist.
However, even though his opponent wasn’t making a move, her aura had already locked onto him. He believed that once he made any move, he would be attacked. When that happened, he wouldn’t be able to hold her off, so he didn’t dare to move a muscle.
[What’s going on?] He could not understand.
Previously, in Thousand Inspirations World, he had gone all out and severely injured this woman, so supposedly, she shouldn’t have much energy left, but the truth was far from it.
The woman wasn’t in as terrible a state as he had imagined; rather, she was even now recovering rapidly. He wasn’t sure what precious pill she had consumed or what Forbidden Technique she had used, he only knew that despite the fact that he had gone all out in this battle, he had still lost in the end.
While they were locked in a confrontation, Yang Kai and Guo Zi Yan finally reached them.
Seeing the situation before him, Yang Kai wasn’t surprised one bit.
Hei He was already on his last legs while Lu Xue had consumed a Divine Medicine’s grape and then raced after him. There was no way he could fend her off. If it weren’t because Yang Kai had told Lu Xue not to kill him, Hei He would’ve become a corpse by now.
Seeing Yang Kai, Hei He sported a conflicted expression. Since he detected the aura of the restriction he had planted back at the Universe Temple, he had been plotting to avenge his Junior’s death. It wasn’t that he treasured the Junior as he just planted the restriction on a whim in the past. Nevertheless, his Junior had been killed, so he would lose face if he couldn’t retaliate against the murderer.
He also didn’t have any regard for Yang Kai and his companions, believing that he could kill the three of them easily. It never crossed his mind that this mistake would cost him his life.
Forcing a smile, he said to Yang Kai, “Little Brother, grudges should be resolved, not formed. I’m willing to pay a price to make peace with you and will swear an oath to not find fault with you again.”
He had no choice but to admit defeat. He wasn’t willing to be so obsequious, but his life was at risk, so he preferred a temporary embarrassment to a permanent death.
Seeing his behaviour, Yang Kai nodded with satisfaction. If Hei He were unyielding, things would’ve been troublesome. He had suffered a big loss this time, so Yang Kai was determined to gain something back.
“What price can you pay?” Yang Kai looked nonchalantly at him.
Hearing that, Hei He relaxed slightly. He was worried that Yang Kai would directly order Lu Xue to end his life. In that case, he could never survive. As long as Yang Kai was willing to discuss terms, it was to his favour.
Although he was heartbroken, he still hurriedly fished out something from his Space Ring and held it in his palm, “Little Brother, what do you think about this?”
The item glistened with a golden glow and radiated a Fifth-Order Metal Element Power.
Yang Kai took one glance at it and lost interest as he scoffed, “Trash!”
“T-Trash?” Hei He choked. This was a Fifth-Order material which was worth 1.5 million Open Heaven Pills! He had obtained it with great difficulty a long time ago, so how could it possibly be trash?
[Is he trying to raise the price?] Hei He secretly clenched his teeth and fished out more resources, almost emptying out his entire fortune.
Nevertheless, in Yang Kai’s eyes, these things were nothing more than rubbish.
Hei He’s face twitched as he had fished out all his most precious items, but Yang Kai wasn’t moved one bit, wondering, [Is he really going to ruthlessly kill me?]
Suppressing his anger, Hei He asked, “Little Brother, what do you want? Please name your price.”
With his lips curving into a smile, Yang Kai sized Hei He up and said, “I only have one request. If you agree to it, I’ll let you off. If you dare to say no, you’ll die today.”
Hei He turned pale and cupped his fists, “Please speak plainly. As long as this Hei is able to, he won’t turn you down.”
At that instant, Yang Kai became enthusiastic as he summoned an ancient-looking book that was made from animal skin. Upon opening it, he said, “It’s simple. Just leave your name and aura here.”
“This is…” Upon seeing the words on the cover, Hei He exclaimed, “Loyalty List? You have the Loyalty List?!”
It was a well-known fact that this book belonged to Loyalty Demon in the past, but why was it in this brat’s hands now? It was said that the Loyalty List had been destroyed along with Loyalty Demon! What was the relationship between this boy and Loyalty Demon!?
“Oh?” Yang Kai looked smilingly at him, “You know the Loyalty List? Things will be much simpler then.”
“You want to enslave this Hei?” Hei He was infuriated. In order to survive, he was willing to pay a steep price, but that didn’t mean that he was willing to surrender his freedom. As a Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, he could never tolerate being bossed around by a mere Emperor Realm Junior.
Yang Kai’s face sank as his murderous intent surged, “What’s wrong? Are you not willing to? In that case, you can die.”
Lu Xue lifted her sword as her weapon howled.
A horrified Hei He hurriedly raised his hand as his forehead was drenched in cold sweat, “Wait a moment…”
“I have no time to waste on you. You have ten breaths to think about it. Live or die, it’s your choice!” Yang Kai snorted and hinted at Lu Xue.
As her World Force undulated, Lu Xue stepped forward and pointed her sword at Hei He.
Internally struggling, Hei He felt cold sweat drip down his face. As a Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, he had always been aloof, so he wasn’t willing to be enslaved; however, as his life was at risk now, he didn’t have the right to say no.
Sensing Lu Xue’s murderous intent, he knew that Yang Kai wasn’t pulling his leg. If he refused, his life would end. Should he agree to it just like that? It was simply too embarrassing!
Ten breaths later, Yang Kai sported a cold expression, “What an obstinate man. Kill him!”
Just as Lu Xue was about to make a move, Hei He hung his head low and shouted through gritted teeth, “I’ll do it! Little Brother, please let me off.”
He wasn’t an unyielding person; otherwise, he wouldn’t have backed down so quickly just now. In order to survive, he didn’t mind leaving his name and aura on the Loyalty List. In any case, he could try to get rid of that restriction in the future as long as he survived.
Yang Kai grinned, “You’ve definitely made a wise choice.”
Then, he had Hei He leave his name and aura on the Loyalty List. During the process, Lu Xue remained vigilant as she stared fixedly at him. As long as he dared to make any rash movement, she would immediately end his life.
Soon, Hei He’s name appeared on the second page of the Loyalty List and Yang Kai could clearly feel that a connection had been established between Hei He and the book.
The Loyalty List was an amazing artifact which could be used without the need to refine it. The book was made from Xie Zhi’s flesh and essence. Xie Zhi was one of the Divine Spirits, and was born able to judge right from wrong, malicious from benign. The book made from his physique had this effect as well.
The book had many benefits, but there was also a downside.
Since Yang Kai was unable to refine it, it meant that he could never fully control the book. In other words, if someone snatched the Loyalty List, they could determine the life or death of the people whose names were recorded in it.
Initially, there was only one name on the Loyalty List, which was Chen Tian Fei. Now, Hei He’s name filled the second page. The entire book consisted of only nine pages; in other words, the owner of the book could only enslave nine people.
Yang Kai had practically traded a page for a Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master to be his subordinate. This deal was worth it.
However, it had also cost Yang Kai two extraordinarily precious World Fruits. In order to allow Lu Xue to have the power to fight against Hei He, he had let her consume a Mid-Rank World Fruit while he had also given Guo Zi Yan a Low-Rank World Fruit which allowed him to ascend to the Third-Order Open Heaven Realm.
Yang Kai only had three Mid-Rank World Fruits in total and previously, he had given one to Yue He. Now he had let Lu Xue consume another one, so he only had one left.
Hei He was fully aware of the situation he was in. Since he had left his name on the Loyalty List, he was powerless to resist; therefore, he changed his attitude and took the initiative to give Yang Kai the items he had fished out earlier as a form of apology.
Instead of rejecting him, Yang Kai accepted the things with a smile. These items weren’t worth anything in his eyes now, but he needed a lot of resources to build the Nine Heavenly Layers in Void Land, so he would never refuse free resources.
Then, Lu Xue summoned her windmill, whereupon the four of them boarded and flew off while recuperating.
Hei He was severely injured and it would take him at least a year to fully recover. That was because when Lu Xue was battling against him, she was unable to hold back at all and her Third Eye Sword almost ended his life on the spot.
Even though she could help him scatter the residual Sword Intent, it was hard for him to heal his wounds.
As such, Yang Kai directly pulled Pu Bai Xiong out of the Small Sealed World, but instead of picking one of the grapes on his head, Yang Kai simply let him stay by Hei He’s side to help treat his wounds.
Pu Bai Xiong was a Divine Medicine whose primary purpose was healing with the grapes on his head being supreme tonics for treating wounds. However, even without using one of the grapes, Pu Bai Xiong could still transfer a significant amount of vitality and medicinal essence which was useful for healing wounds.
Seeing this Human Form Divine Healing Medicine, Hei He was absolutely astonished. It was then he understood that Yang Kai had the right to say that his treasures were trash. Compared to this Divine Medicine, even his entire life’s fortune really wasn’t worthy of mention.
Four months later, the windmill stopped in front of a huge Territory Gate, which was seen with dark lights swirling around it even from a long distance.
Inside the windmill, Yang Kai was gazing at the Territory Gate. Despite his calm expression, he was nervous deep inside.
He wasn’t sure about the exact location of the Star Boundary. Since he bought the Universe Chart, he had been trying to look for it and had identified three possible locations.
Before coming across Hei He, he had searched around a Great Territory, but he discovered nothing. Two months after he made Hei He his subordinate, they entered the second possible Great Territory; unfortunately, they still couldn’t find the Star Boundary.
The Great Territory behind this Territory Gate would be the last one. If they still couldn’t find the Star Boundary in this Great Territory, Yang Kai wouldn’t know where to go next.
The three possible locations were not narrowed down by Yang Kai using his gut feelings, there was some rationale behind it.
Over the years, other than Great Demon God Mo Sheng and Heavens Order, no Open Heaven Realm Masters had visited the Star Boundary; in other words, the Star Boundary was located in an extremely remote place, and the resources in that Great Territory must be poor, which was why it couldn’t attract the attention of Open Heaven Realm Masters. If not, just like Golden Sun Continent and Thousand Inspirations World, the Star Boundary would’ve been ruled over by some great force.
In fact, if it weren’t because Great Demon God invaded the Star Boundary and Zhang Ruo Xi inherited her ancestor’s will, Yang Kai would never have found out about the Open Heaven Realm.
With this judgement in mind, he could narrow down the possibilities. The three possible locations he had found didn’t have any great forces in them. There were only some Universe Worlds with somewhat weak vitality as well as a lack of resources.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t find the Star Boundary in the previous two Great Territories, and he wondered if he could achieve his goal after passing through the Territory Gate in front of him.
If he still couldn’t find the Star Boundary, he would have no choice but to look for Zhang Ruo Xi. She had inherited Heavens Order’s will and memories. Although it wasn’t complete, she might be aware of the Star Boundary’s location.
After pulling himself together, Yang Kai spoke up, “Let’s go.”
Upon receiving the order, Lu Xue drove the windmill into the Territory Gate. Despite the fact that they had the protection of this flight-type artifact, they still felt dizzy inside the windmill. Nevertheless, they were fine and a moment later, the windmill passed through the Territory Gate and entered a different Great Territory.
Yang Kai immediately released his Divine Sense, but soon, his heart sank. That was because he didn’t sense anything. He was the Void Great Emperor who had obtained part of the Star Boundary’s Will. As long as the Star Boundary wasn’t too far away, he should be able to detect it.
Now, the Star Boundary was either not in this Great Territory or was too far away from him. Yang Kai secretly prayed that it was the latter as he told Lu Xue to continue forward to search around this Great Territory.
A few days later, Yang Kai suddenly detected something and turned to look in a particular direction. Grinning from ear to ear, he ordered, “Over there! That way!”
Lu Xue immediately turned the artifact around and moved in the direction he pointed.
Hei He chuckled on the side, “Congratulations, Sir. Your dream has finally come true. Your effort has been worth it.”
After four months of recuperation, he had fully recovered. It wasn’t supposed to be so swift, but with the help of Pu Bai Xiong, it took him a much shorter time to heal his wounds.
Although he wasn’t sure what Yang Kai had been looking for, he had a feeling that the latter was trying to get to someplace. Seeing as Yang Kai appeared elated, it was apparent that he had found it.
After such a long time, Hei He had gradually gotten used to his place and stopped complaining. Having come into contact with Yang Kai for quite some time, he realised that he was never oppressed or abused, so he decided to put down his pride as a Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master and accept his fate.
“Hahahaha!” Yang Kai was over the moon as he couldn’t stop laughing. Then, he patted the other man’s shoulder, “Congratulations to you too!”
Hei He rubbed his nose and felt speechless, thinking that there was nothing worth celebrating about this situation for him.
Lu Xue drove the windmill forward at a greater speed and one day later, a Universe World in the distance that looked like a half-moon came into their sight.
Yang Kai looked at it and let out a long breath. Just like any traveller returning to his homeland, he felt both anxious and hopeful. The Universe World that looked like a half-moon was none other than the Star Boundary!
From another direction, Yang Kai could feel a faint connection with another place. That was the new Demon Realm that his Embodiment was in charge of.
In the past, Yang Kai’s Sealed World Bead had gained a second form he had named Gun-Gun and swallowed all the continents in the original Demon Realm. After those continents merged within the Sealed World Bead, the third region was formed.
After the war between the two Universe Worlds, the Star Boundary had suffered an immense loss, while the Demon Realm was almost wiped out. Nevertheless, there were still many Demons in the third region.
Yang Kai extracted the core of the Small Sealed World out of Gun-Gun and turned it back into the Sealed World Bead. The remaining area became the new Demon Realm, and for reasons that were beyond their control, the Embodiment had to stay in the new Demon Realm. The two top Masters, Bei Li Mo and Chang Tian, were also living there.
However, it wasn’t the time to go over as Yang Kai had to return to the Star Boundary first. As the gap shortened, the outline of the Star Boundary became clearer.
There came a moment when Lu Xue became horrified as she said, “Sir, there’s something over there. A gigantic thing seems to be in the periphery of the Universe World.”
Hei He discovered that as well, so he directed some power to his eyes to enhance his vision and soon exclaimed, “That’s… a Giant Spirit God!?” Upon finishing his words, he gasped.
The gigantic mountain was actually a Giant Spirit God!
Hei He was an experienced Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, but it was the first time he had ever seen a Giant Spirit God with his own eyes. In the past, he had only heard about them.
That was a Giant Spirit God, one of the most powerful entities in the entire 3,000 Worlds. He had heard that the Giant Spirit God Clan members were all innocent and benevolent and as long as they were not provoked, they wouldn’t harm anyone; however, he was still terrified to have come across one in such a place.
Feeling a crawling sensation on her scalp, Lu Xue turned to look at Yang Kai.
Yang Kai said, “Don’t worry. He’s an old acquaintance of mine.”
Guo Zi Yan widened his eyes in disbelief. On the other hand, Hei He was staring fixedly at Yang Kai as though he was trying to find out if the latter was trying to make a cheap joke at their expense.
There was a solemn expression on Yang Kai’s face, however, as the fact that Ah Da was still around suggested that the Star Boundary was in a perilous situation.
It had to be noted that Giant Spirit God Clan members had a special talent. Although they were amiable, they fed on dead Universe Worlds. In this expansive Outer Universe, as long as a Universe World was in its final moments, they would detect its special aura and hurry over. Then, they would patiently wait for the Universe World to perish before swallowing it.
If the situation in the Star Boundary had improved, Ah Da would’ve left; however, presently, he still remained in this place.
While the rest of them were horrified, the windmill still rapidly approached the Giant Spirit God.
Soon, someone was heard yelling, “Who goes there? This is the Star Boundary, stop now otherwise I will be forced to take action!”
Hearing the voice, Yang Kai chuckled before lowering his tone and saying, “You’re quite arrogant, little girl! What will you do if I don’t stop?”
Feeling speechless, the other Open Heaven Realm Masters in the windmill gazed at Yang Kai suspiciously.
The other party fell silent for a moment before she said through clenched teeth, “Little bastard, you’re finally back!”
Apparently, she recognized Yang Kai’s voice.
Yang Kai laughed and dashed out of the windmill. Looking up, he saw a slender figure with a charming face standing in the void in front of him. Her beautiful eyes were just like a divine river that radiated an alluring glow. Presently, her eyes had reddened a little as she stared at Yang Kai with clenched teeth.
Yang Kai spread his arms and shouted, “I’m back!”
In an instant, she became ecstatic and crashed into his embrace.
The woman in her arms felt incredibly soft and Yang Kai couldn’t help taking in a deep breath to get a whiff of her familiar bodily fragrance. Then, he lowered his head and kissed her hair, “I’m back, Ru Meng. It’s been too long.”
She was none other than Demon Saint Yu Ru Meng.
Yu Ru Meng looked up with her elegant eyes, which appeared slightly moist. Although it had only been about 15 years since Yang Kai left the Star Boundary, she felt as if ten millennia had passed for her.
Missing him was just one of the reasons though. After Yang Kai left, the other Great Emperors had to enter retreat to heal their injuries. In the whole of the Star Boundary, the only top Master on par with a Great Emperor left was her, so it could be said that the life or death of the entire Universe World hinged on her alone. It was an immense pressure to withstand.
Furthermore, as time passed, things only became worse in the Star Boundary. Yu Ru Meng was extremely worried that she might disappoint Yang Kai and couldn’t bear to see the Star Boundary falling apart right in front of her eyes, helpless to do anything about it.
Fortunately, she could set her mind at ease now. With the burden lifted off her shoulders, she had the urge to cry.
Yang Kai held her tighter and looked at the Star Boundary with a solemn expression.
Presently, the entire Star Boundary was filled with Death Qi. Although he hadn’t entered it yet, he could clearly feel that the World Principles were still broken. It never crossed his mind that the problem facing the Star Boundary was so severe.
Even though he had brought a World Tree’s root with him, he wasn’t certain whether it could save the Star Boundary. In the worst-case scenario, if the World Tree’s root wasn’t effective, he would take all the living creatures in the Star Boundary away with him.
However, there was a problem if he were to do that. Void Land couldn’t possibly accommodate so many people, and most cultivators in the Star Boundary were weak, so it was pointless to bring them to Void Land. Only by staying in the Star Boundary could they flourish and grow.
While the pair embraced one another, Lu Xue and the others flew over.
From close up, they finally understood why this Giant Spirit God was around. That was because he was attracted by a dying Universe World, which proved that the legends about Giant Spirit Gods were true.
They traded glances and shook their heads. To them, there was no way this world could be saved. It was just a matter of time before it perished.
Realising that some people were approaching them, Yu Ru Meng hurriedly struggled out of Yang Kai’s embrace and asked curiously, “They are…”
“They’re my subordinates,” Yang Kai explained.
Lu Xue and the others hurriedly cupped their fists, “Greetings, Madame!”
Yu Ru Meng was stunned. Despite the fact that she was a Demon Saint, she was unable to sense the true power of these three. All of them gave off a feeling that they were not inferior to Great Demon God in the past though. In fact, their strength even seemed to surpass his.
At that time, Great Demon God nearly destroyed the Star Boundary on his own, and it took all the Great Emperors working together, risking their lives to finally stop him.
However, powerful people like these three of them were actually Yang Kai’s subordinates!
[What has my man gone through in the outside world over the years?] She had many questions in her mind.
Although Yu Ru Meng was doubtful, she hadn’t forgotten her manners as she smiled and nodded at the three of them, “Many thanks for escorting this Mistress’ Husband all this time.”
Lu Xue and the others wouldn’t dare to accept her gesture of gratitude, and at the same time, they secretly felt amazed. Although Yu Ru Meng’s cultivation was nothing in their eyes, it was truly difficult to find a woman as alluring as she was. They thought that Yang Kai was extremely lucky to have gotten together with her.
After some small talk with Yu Ru Meng, Yang Kai found out the reason she was here. She was going to feed Ah Da with some ‘food’.
The Great Emperors of the Star Boundary were still recuperating, so she was the only one who was powerful enough to protect the Universe World. On the other hand, Ah Da had been lingering in the periphery of the Star Boundary. Before Yang Kai left, he had come to an agreement with him, but Ah Da wasn’t the brightest of fellows, so he might forget about the agreement and gobble up the Star Boundary at a moment’s notice.
In order to placate him, Yu Ru Meng would send some food to him from time to time. His food was made by Bustling World Great Emperors using Dead Stars from the Lower Star Fields. They were similar World Beads.
After a nod, Yang Kai took Yu Ru Meng’s hand and dashed towards Ah Da.
Compared to this humongous being, Yang Kai was like an ant standing in front of an elephant. In the past, even after he used his Dragon Transformation, he could slip into Ah Da’s nostril and grab his nasal hairs, which went to show how colossal the Giant Spirit God was.
“Ah Da! Ah Da!” Yang Kai passionately waved his hands and shouted. From a distance, Lu Xue and the others were apprehensive as they were worried that a puff of breath from the Giant Spirit God’s nostrils could kill Yang Kai.
Presently, Ah Da was chewing on his food as crunching sounds were coming from his mouth. Hearing Yang Kai’s voice, he extended his neck and took a proper look before grinning, “Little ant, it’s you! Ah Da remembers you!”
Yang Kai chuckled, “It seems that you’re not too silly.”
“Ah Da remembers you. Ah Da is hungry. Ah Da must eat!” The Giant Spirit God leaned forward, which caused Yang Kai to be drenched in cold sweat in an instant as though he had been pressured by the entire universe.
He had experienced the wonders of the Outer Universe and even met some High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters; however, when compared to this Giant Spirit God, even those High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters seemed insignificant.
The Giant Spirit Gods indeed lived up to their name as the strongest species in the entire universe. Fortunately, there were not many of their clansmen, and they were all somewhat half-witted; otherwise, there wouldn’t be any room for other species to survive.
They were the testament of the saying that the Heavens were fair in all things.
While Ah Da was speaking, a deafening growl was heard coming from his stomach, causing Lu Xue and the others to turn pale in fright.
Yang Kai hurriedly poked Yu Ru Meng, who was beside him. Upon getting his hint, she tossed some chess pieces to him.
“Nom, nom, nom…” Ah Da was pleased with his food.
Yang Kai wouldn’t dare to remain lest Ah Da demanded food from him again. Thus, he said to Lu Xue and the others, “All of you, stay here!”
The World Principles of the Star Boundary were broken, so the Universe World couldn’t bear such immense powers. Lu Xue and the others were all Open Heaven Realm Masters, and if they rashly entered the Star Boundary, it might have some negative impact on the Universe World. In order to be safe, Yang Kai decided to let them stay outside.
Upon receiving the order, Lu Xue and the others nodded and watched as Yang Kai and Yu Ru Meng rushed into the Star Boundary.
After the pair left, the trio traded glances and secretly retreated until they were very far from their original spots. This couldn’t be helped, as the Giant Spirit God gave off immense pressure. No one dared to remain near him.
The Star Boundary was in a horrible state, and the World Principles were a mess. Void Cracks appeared randomly and traces of the war that took place several dozen years ago still remained. The Star Boundary was slowly dying, and the Great Emperors were unable to reverse it.
Due to the fact that the Principles were a mess, the living conditions in the Star Boundary had also become terrible. Natural disasters happened frequently, which caused unimaginable losses to everyone in the Star Boundary. It was akin to a death by a thousand cuts.
In the Eastern Territory, a ship was moving forward at full speed on the ocean. Behind the ship, waves were seen surging as high as several thousand metres, darkening the entire sky. Although the cultivators on the ship were trying their best to resist, they were unable to compete with the forces of nature.
People were heard screaming and wailing as hundreds of people on the ship were despondent.
In the Southern Territory, mountains shook as great chasms appeared in the earth. Scorching magma spurted out of the chasms and destroyed towns and villages. Countless people lost their homes.
With Azure Sun Temple as their leader, the great forces joined together to mitigate these disasters, but there was only so much they could do. The best they could do was to prevent more people from dying.
In the Western Territory, a great sandstorm swept across the desert and engulfed everything in its path. On the edge of the desert, the new Liu Family Patriarch looked at the sandstorm in horror and muttered with a forlorn voice, “It’s over! Everything is over!”
During the war between the two Universe Worlds, the Western Territory suffered the worst losses. That was because the traitor, Night Shadow Great Emperor, was from the Western Territory, and the Two Worlds’ Passage was originally established in this Territory.
It had been almost 70 years since the war ended, and the Liu Family had made a name for itself as a rising star. The Patriarch was a capable person and over the years, he had led his family to thrive; however, faced with the horrifying sandstorm, any move appeared useless. They could only watch as the sandstorm struck and prayed that their Grand Array could resist the impact.
However, the Liu Family Patriarch was fully aware that his family was unable to ward off the natural disaster. He wasn’t even sure how many of them could survive after the sandstorm passed.
In the Northern Territory, blizzards raged as the weather turned extremely chilly. On the once pristine lakes, ice sheets over a metre thick had formed and all the vitality froze over.
However, compared to the other Territories, the Northern Territory was still in a better state. That was because High Heaven Palace was located in this Territory. Any disciple from High Heaven Palace who had some strength would naturally go out for life experience, and resisting natural disasters was the best training for them.
In front of a certain city, a palace was hovering in mid-air. There were some glowing characters written above the doors of the palace, which read ‘Flowing Time Temple’.
At the main entrance to this floating temple stood two figures, a man and a woman. The man’s snow-white hair swayed with the wind while the similarly coloured cloak he was clad in flapped in the wind, giving him a brave and heroic look. On the other hand, the alluring woman had a slim figure. By just standing there, she looked like a hibiscus that was blooming.
The two of them gazed at the approaching Frozen Tide with solemn expressions.
Although they were fairly powerful now, and they had the help of the Flowing Time Temple, they wouldn’t dare to be careless when facing this immense force. That was because millions of people had pinned their hopes on them.
“It’s here!” Yang Xue yelled.
After a nod, Yang Xiao took a deep breath and in the next instant, the two of them raised their hands and began forming a set of complex hand seals. Then, they pushed out their palms as a howl reverberated around the world.
Time Flows on Infinitely, Like a Mighty Stream, Like an Unending Dream!
The horrifying Frozen Tide seemed to have gotten stuck in an eerie manner, as if time had stopped running around it.
Seeing that, the people in the city started cheering.
“Twin Masters, you’re so powerful!”
“Twin Masters, you’ve too wonderful!”
“Twin Masters, many thanks for saving us. If not for you, it would’ve been the end of the world!”
…..
Over the years, Yang Xiao and Yang Xue had repeatedly taken action to ward off the natural disasters plaguing the Northern Territory and saved countless lives in the process. While the disasters had helped strengthen their powers, they had also earned the title the ‘Twins of Time’.
However, the overwhelming praises didn’t make them smile; instead, the pair sported grim expressions.
Yang Xiao said through clenched teeth, “Little Aunt, the Frozen Tide this time seems to be more ferocious than the previous one.”
Yang Xue nodded, “Can you withstand it?”
“Are you kidding me? Can I withstand it?” Yang Xiao replied arrogantly, “Little Aunt, if you can’t take it anymore, just tell me right away; after all, you’re a woman. As a man, I… Oh, no!”
Yang Xue’s expression changed slightly and without hesitation, she summoned the Infinite Hourglass. The two of them joined forces and activated it, whereupon ten-thousand and eight grains of Flowing Time Divine Sand left the hourglass and shot into the Frozen Tide.
In an instant, the power of the Frozen Tide visibly weakened. After the Flowing Time Divine Sand slowed the speed at which the time flowed, the Frozen Tide rapidly stalled out. Nevertheless, the Frozen Tide could not be stopped entirely.
The pair gritted their teeth and surged their Emperor Qi to push back against the Frozen Tide.
Just then, a voice was suddenly heard speaking in their minds, “Both of you have done a great job!”
They were stunned for a moment, and the next instant, they saw an illusory hand appearing in the Frozen Tide all of a sudden. The hand gently brushed across the Frozen Tide, which they were unable to stop regardless of how hard they tried, and immediately made it subside.
The turn of events was so abrupt that Yang Xiao and Yang Xue were rooted to the spot. Just a moment ago, the land before them was being devastated by the Frozen Tide, but now, it was calm and peaceful. That big hand was able to easily subside the Frozen Tide as though it was just trying to smoothen a crease on a shirt.
After they traded glances, Yang Xue asked hesitantly, “Xiao’er, did you hear anything?”
Yang Xiao remained startled for a long time before he jumped up and yelled, “Adoptive Father is back!”
Without waiting for Yang Xue to react, he hurriedly drove the Flowing Time Temple towards High Heaven Palace, leaving behind millions of people who cheered gratefully to them.
At the same time, the waves on the ocean in the Eastern Territory were suppressed, leaving the people on the ship reeling from shock.
The earthquake that had been ongoing for a few months in the Southern Territory had finally stopped, and magma retreated into the depths of the earth. Wen Zi Shan and Gao Xue Ting traded glances as they were both puzzled, but the next instant, they detected something and became elated, “Senior Void is back!”
In the Western Territory, the appalling sandstorm suddenly dissipated right before it struck the Headquarters of the Liu Family. Upon escaping from death’s door, the Liu Family Patriarch fell on his bottom, all his clothes were soaked in sweat.
Billions of lives in all four Territories learned a piece of shocking news at the same time. Void Great Emperor had returned!
After a short moment of silence, cheers erupted around the entire Star Boundary.
Decades ago, during the Two Worlds Great War, Great Demon God raised chaos in the Star Boundary and almost managed to swallow it whole. It was Void Great Emperor’s Sect that remained the last pure land in the Star Boundary and had given everyone their last bit of hope. Void Great Emperor managed to turn the tide by ‘killing’ Great Demon God with his spear, which saved the Star Boundary from destruction.
After the epic war, the Great Emperors had to heal their wounds in seclusion while Void Great Emperor took the risk to leave the Star Boundary to look for a way to save it.
Now, he was back!
Upon learning that Void Great Emperor had returned, cheers went up around all four Territories.
Living in this dying Universe World, trillions were struggling to survive, so the return of Void Great Emperor had undoubtedly brought some new hope to them.
In the deepest part of High Heaven Palace, Dragon Clan Great Elder Zhu Yan and Second Elder Fu Zhun slowly opened their eyes. They were a married couple, and in the past, they were severely wounded during the fight against Great Demon God. Many years had passed, but they were still unable to recover despite the fact that they were Dragon Clan members. Over the years, they had been in seclusion trying to heal their wounds.
Upon trading glances, they saw the joy behind each other’s gazes.
On Spirit Beast Island in the Eastern Territory, Martial Beast Great Emperor, Mo Huang, sported a gentle smile as he muttered, “He’s finally back.”
Upon finishing his words, he rose from where he was sitting and waved his hand, whereupon the door, which had remained closed for decades, creaked open. Mo Xiao Qi was standing outside as she gazed at him with a look of pleasant surprise and called out, “Father, is Big Brother Yang back? I think I heard his voice.”
Mo Huang’s face instantly fell as he bitterly replied, “Your Father has been recuperating in seclusion for almost 70 years, but you don’t even bother to ask how he is and instead all you care about is your Big Brother Yang?”
Mo Xiao Qi’s face reddened as she asked in embarrassment, “Father, how have you been?”
Mo Huang sighed, “I won’t die yet.”
Hearing this, Mo Xiao Qi rushed over, wrapped her arm around his, and pleaded, “Then, bring me to High Heaven Palace now…”
Mo Huang grunted. His injuries, which had finally stabilised, seemed to have been irritated again. He felt a burning sensation in his chest as he was completely incensed, “Surnamed Yang! This King cannot exist under the same sky as you!”
Upon realising that her Father was infuriated, Mo Xiao Qi hurriedly placated, “Father, please don’t get me wrong. Perhaps Big Brother Yang has some wonderful pills that can treat your wounds. I’m just worried about you…”
Torn between tears and laughter, Mo Huang sighed, “Alright. Stop explaining. I have to go over and ask him what happened anyway.”
At that instant, Mo Xiao Qi became jubilant.
Meanwhile, Serene Soul Great Emperor walked out of Serene Soul Palace. Outside the palace, Yao Si and the other top Elders were already waiting for him. Seeing the Great Emperor, all of them saluted him respectfully, “Palace Master!”
Yao Jun nodded and patted Yao Si’s shoulder, “You’ve done well these past years.” Although he had been cultivating in seclusion all this time, it didn’t mean he was oblivious to what was happening outside.
A calm and collected Yao Si replied, “It is my duty.”
He was the Great Emperor’s Son, and had been pretty arrogant in the past; however, during the Two Worlds Great War, he was forced to become Yang Kai’s Adjutant and in the latter’s stead basically organized and commanded the Sixty-First Army. Leading such an army and fighting a dying war against the Demon Race helped him mature significantly as a person. Over the years, Yao Jun had been cultivating in seclusion, so Yao Si had been left in charge of Serene Soul Palace, and he had managed it well. Fewer losses had been incurred in the Eastern Territory thanks to Serene Soul Palace’s, and by extension Yao Si’s efforts.
“Void Great Emperor has returned. Come with me. We’ll see him now,” Yao Jun said.
Yao Si nodded and followed closely behind his Father.
Inside Heavens Spying Valley, Heavens Revelations Great Emperor gazed at the three ancient-looking turtle shells in front of him and guffawed, “Great blessings have come! The Star Boundary will be revitalised! Such wonderful news!”
Gao Zhan was just standing behind him as he appeared pleasantly surprised, “Honoured Master, you mean, Senior Void’s return this time can solve the problems facing the Star Boundary?” He was born blind, but he was the best candidate to inherit the mantle of Heavens Revelations Great Emperor; therefore, the Great Emperor took him on as a disciple when the latter was a young child and taught him divination.
“It is all but certain.” Chu Tian Ji chuckled and rose from the seat, “Let us head to High Heaven Palace now.”
Wondrous Pill Great Emperor left Medicine Pill Valley with some of his disciples while Iron Blood Great Emperor left Iron Blood Fort with Lin Yun’er.
There was also Bustling World Great Emperor, who had been staying in Azure Sun Temple as well as Flower Shadow Great Emperor from Thousand Flowers Valley and Ice Feather Great Emperor from Heavens’ Borderline.
Almost simultaneously, the Great Emperors, who had been cultivating in seclusion for decades, left their residences and headed to High Heaven Palace in the Northern Territory.
Besides them, Luan Feng, Fan Wu, and Cang Gou from the Ancient Wild Lands in the Eastern Territory, Valley Master Bing Yun of Ice Heart Valley in the Northern Territory, Sheng Yu Zhu of Luo Sha Sect, and other top Masters who were Yang Kai’s acquaintances all began rushing over to High Heaven Palace.
All the top cultivators from the four Territories were headed to the same destination.
“Welcome back, Palace Master!”
In High Heaven Palace in the Northern Territory, tens of thousands of disciples, led by Head Manager Hua Qing Si and Second Manager Bian Yu Qing, cupped their fists and greeted Yang Kai. They fervently stared at the figure that was descending from the sky with gazes filled with admiration and respect.
After sweeping a glance over them, Yang Kai saw Grand Master Ling Tai Xu, Ancestral Founder Chu Ling Xiao, as well as all his other old acquaintances that came to this place with him from the Great Han Dynasty, Tong Xuan Realm, and Shadowed Star. He also saw his parents, Meng Wu Ya, and Xia Ning Chang.
Little Senior Sister still had her face covered with a thin veil, but her tender body was trembling involuntarily, and her eyes that looked like Stars were wet with tears. If it weren’t because there were many people around, she would’ve pounced on Yang Kai right then and there.
Xue Yue was standing beside her and had her lips pressed firmly together, her eyes seemingly suggesting she felt a mixture of joy and anxiety.
After nodding gently at the two of them, Yang Kai turned to look at the others and said with a smile, “How are you? It must have been difficult these past years.” Yang Kai had examined the entire Star Boundary, so he knew that life had been difficult for all of them. Nevertheless, he was still gratified to see so many familiar faces at this moment.
Hua Qing Si replied, “We’re fine, Palace Master. Many thanks for your concern.”
Yang Kai nodded his head and shuffled towards his parents. Apologetically, he spoke, “Father, Mother, your son has not been filial and has constantly made you worry.”
Dong Shu Zhu sniffled and tried to prevent her tears from sliding down her cheeks. With her lips pressed into a line, she spoke, “You’re a man, so you’re supposed to venture into the outside world and achieve great things in life. You don’t need to worry about us.”
Yang Ying Feng nodded lightly, “If you can solve the crisis facing the Star Boundary, that will be the best you can do to repay us.”
Solemnly, Yang Kai nodded, “I’ll do my best not to disappoint you.”
Then, he turned around and took the hands of Little Senior Sister and Xue Yue before lovingly saying, “It must have been tough for you two.”
The two of them traded glances and shook their heads, “We’re fine.” However, their tears started streaming down their faces. Despite knowing that it was inappropriate for them to cry in this situation, they could hardly control their tears.
Seeing that, Yu Ru Meng walked over and comforted them. Then, Yang Kai saluted the two Elders from the Dragon Clan and Tian Yan.
Tian Yan was a Great Emperor from the Divine Ascension Mirror. During the Two Worlds War, he had made a significant contribution. In the past, he concealed his identity and infiltrated the core of the Demon Race before causing them immense losses at the most critical moment. After the war, he stayed in High Heaven Palace; however, due to the fact that the Principles in the Star Boundary were broken, he was unable to become a Great Emperor again despite having the heritage of one.
A moment later, the Space Array lit up and revealed three figures.
Yang Kai turned around, only to see Bing Yun, Su Yan, and Ji Yao stepping into the Grand Hall.
While Yang Kai was still greeting the three women, the Space Array flickered again, whereupon a loud voice was heard yelling, “Is Adoptive Father back?”
The next instant, Yang Xiao dashed out and looked around. Upon seeing Yang Kai, he cheered and bolted towards him. Then, he circled around him like a noisy monkey.
“Smelly brat, stop being disrespectful!” Unable to take it anymore, Zhu Yan pinched Yang Xiao’s ear and yanked him away.
Yang Xiao groaned and begged for mercy.
On the other hand, Yang Xue stood in front of Yang Kai and called out in a clear voice, “Big Brother!”
Yang Kai guffawed and patted her head, “We haven’t met for a few years, but you’ve become even more beautiful.” He doted on his little sister, but at the same time, he felt some guilt towards her.
Over the years, he had been swamped with his duties both in the Star Boundary and beyond it, so he was unable to repay his parents’ favour for raising him, nor could he take care of his Sister. Fortunately, Yang Xue was around to keep their parents company, which allowed Yang Kai to achieve great things without having to worry about his home.
Hearing his words, Yang Xue sniffled and replied, “Big Brother, you’re such a sweet talker. No wonder you were able to trick so many pretty sisters into being your wives.”
Yang Kai burst into laughter.
The Space Array glowed again as Martial Beast Great Emperor, Mo Xiao Qi, and Fu Xuan arrived. The next instant, Bustling World Great Emperor, Wen Zi Shan, and Gao Xue Ting appeared together. A moment later, Yao Jun and Yao Si came.
Since the great war, there had never been a day when the Space Array in High Heaven Palace had been activated so frequently. It was also the first time so many top Masters had gathered together in this place.
Wondrous Pill Great Emperor and his Disciples were here; Flower Shadow Great Emperor and Li Shi Qing were here; Heavens Revelations Great Emperor and Gao Zhan were here; Ice Feather Great Emperor came; Iron Blood Great Emperor and Lin Yun’er appeared; the three Divine Venerables of the Ancient Wild Lands, Qiong Qi, Liu Yan, and Shan Qing Luo showed themselves.
Everyone was here!
In the past, before Yang Kai departed, he had left countless Space Arrays in the Star Boundary, which connected all four Territories. Anyone could go wherever they wanted in the Star Boundary without restrictions now. The reason he had done so was in order to allow the great forces to support each other more easily.
What he had done had benefited everyone up until now. It didn’t take these top cultivators much time to arrive at High Heaven Palace; otherwise, it would’ve been time-wasting for them to travel all the way here from the different Territories.
Yang Kai saluted the Great Emperors one by one. Despite his calm appearance, he was shocked inside. That was because he realised that the auras of the Great Emperors were even more unsteady than before. It was apparent that their injuries hadn’t healed.
It had been 70 years since the great war, and after the war, Yang Kai had cultivated in seclusion for 50 years to properly stabilize his Dao Seal and condense his Wood Element Power before leaving the Star Boundary.
Initially, he thought that after such a long time, even if the Great Emperors hadn’t fully recovered, their wounds should’ve stabilized at least. Nevertheless, upon seeing them, he realised that he was wrong. Instead of getting better, their injuries seemed to have worsened.
Yang Kai was puzzled by this, but he soon realised why the Great Emperors never made a move despite the fact that the Star Boundary was in a perilous situation. They were unable to do that as they were still injured.
A small Xiao Xiao squeezed through the crowd and approached Yang Kai. Upon reaching Yang Kai’s feet, he climbed up and sat on his shoulders before smirking in a silly manner.
High Heaven Palace was bustling with noise as many top cultivators had gathered together. The Head Manager and Second Manager were swamped with work all of a sudden as they had to hold a grand banquet to welcome these guests.
Soon, well over 100 people gathered together in the venue where the banquet was held. Ordinary people didn’t have the right to attend as all of these hundred-plus people were the top Masters from the four Territories.
Yang Kai took a seat at the head of the hall as he was the star for today.
The people seated below, including the Great Emperors, all listened to his interesting narration of the Outer Universe, provoking awe and desire in all of them.
It wasn’t until this moment that these top cultivators found out the wonders of this boundless Outer Universe, and that Great Emperors were just a special title, not a true realm of the Martial Dao. Above the Great Emperors, there were the Open Heaven Realm Masters who split Heaven and Earth apart in their own bodies to form a Small Universe within themselves.
There were countless Universe Worlds like the Star Boundary, and there were more than 1,000 Great Territories. There were many great forces in those Great Territories. The Thirty-Six Cave-Heavens and Seventy-Two Paradises were undoubtedly the most powerful among the great forces, and below them, there were innumerable Second Class and Third Class great forces.
In this boundless universe, the Star Boundary was as insignificant as dust.
It had been more than 10 years since Yang Kai left, and he had grown tremendously; however, his road towards the Open Heaven Realm was paved with difficulties. There was still a long way to go before he could achieve the ascension.
The banquet lasted for the entire night, and Yang Kai went on to talk for just as long. The top Masters were flabbergasted and unable to calm themselves down for a long time. All of them appeared to be in a dazed state when they left.
On the other hand, the Great Emperors stayed in High Heaven Palace.
Inside a secret room, all the Great Emperors gathered together. Sheng Yu Zhu, Tian Yan, and the two Elders from the Dragon Clan also attended. Although the latter four were not Great Emperors in the Star Boundary, they had the heritage of Great Emperors, so they had the right to attend such a meeting.
Hua Qing Si led the maidservants to serve them tea before leaving respectfully.
After some small talk, Yang Kai cut to the chase and asked solemnly, “Why are all of you in a worse state instead of getting better?”
That was the biggest doubt in his mind. All the Great Emperors were powerful, and they had been recuperating in seclusion, so supposedly, their wounds should have healed at least somewhat. Even if one to two of them were unable to stop their wounds from worsening, it wasn’t likely that the same thing happened to all the Great Emperors.
All of them traded glances, and then Duan Hong Chen replied with a bitter smile, “It hasn’t been a long time since you became a Great Emperor, and you left the Star Boundary not long after you obtained the World’s Will, so you might not be aware of it.”
Yang Kai turned to look at him.
After a sigh, Duan Hong Chen went on to say, “We’ve obtained the World’s Will and become Great Emperors of the Star Boundary. Although we’re able to use a power that far exceeds the Emperor Realm, our fates have also been tied to this Universe World. After the great war, we were all injured, and the World Principles were broken. The Star Boundary is in a horrible state and at risk of disintegration at any moment.”
Mo Huang continued, “If the World was on the mend, we would be able to make use of the World Force to heal ourselves; however, the World Force is almost exhausted, so none of us dare to use it. Although we’ve been recuperating in seclusion, all we can do is prevent our wounds from getting worse.”
Zhan Wu Hen spoke up, “The average person could make use of pills to heal themselves, but we can’t do that. As long as this world doesn’t improve, there won’t be any hope for us to recover, unless we break free from the world’s restrictions and head to the Outer Universe, like what you’ve done.”
It was then that Yang Kai understood what had happened.
Just like what Duan Hong Chen had said, after the Great Emperors obtained the World’s Will, their fates were tied to this Universe World. Since the Star Boundary was deteriorating, there was no way they could recover.
Yang Kai already had incredible restorative powers to begin with, and he had a Wood Element Power condensed from the Immortal Tree, so he didn’t have such concerns, but it was a different case for the others.
“Regardless, we have to solve the problem facing the Star Boundary.” Chu Tian Ji stared at Yang Kai, “Void, since you’ve returned, does it mean that you’ve found a solution?”
All of them looked fervently at him with gazes filled with hope.
Yang Kai nodded his head, “En, I’ve found a way, but I can’t guarantee that it will work.”
He had to plant the World Tree’s root first to find out whether it was effective at all. If that didn’t work, he would have no choice but to take everyone away.
“No matter what, it’s best to try first.”
It was then Yang Kai rose from his chair, “I’ll start right now, then. Hopefully, I’ll bring back some good news.”
Hearing that, all of them were energised.
Yang Kai closed his eyes and scanned the surroundings, then he disappeared from the spot. When he reappeared, he was already atop a mountain.
It wasn’t certain how far away this mountain was from High Heaven Palace, but it was where the four Territories intersected. This nameless mountain was extremely high and completely barren. All Yang Kai could see was gravel and shale.
Then, sending his consciousness into the Small Sealed World, Yang Kai carefully uprooted a certain sapling.
The Small Sealed World shook a little.
In the past, as soon as Yang Kai obtained the World Tree’s root, he directly threw it into the Small Sealed World. Later on, he took a look and realised that the root had become rooted in the ground and turned into a sapling as it madly absorbed the World Energy in the Small Sealed World. Following its rapid growth, the Principles in the Small Sealed World became more stable and complete.
If Yang Kai hadn’t discovered this, he wouldn’t have associated the root with what Ah Da had mentioned in the past. That was how he thought about using it in the Star Boundary.
Since he had decided to use it to restore the Star Boundary, Yang Kai wouldn’t let it grow in the Small Sealed World; therefore, he immediately sealed off the World Energy, lest it be absorbed by the sapling. Therefore, it was still a sapling when he pulled it out.
Yang Kai carefully dug a hole and planted this sapling before covering the hole with soil. After giving it a thought, he waved his hand, whereupon a bit of clean water was summoned from a faraway place and splashed on the sapling.
Feeling nervous, he stared at the sapling and waited patiently. The survival of the Star Boundary depended on this little sapling. Although he appeared calm, he was anxious deep inside.
To his dismay, the sapling remained unchanged. The green leaves swayed with the wind, but the sapling didn’t grow rapidly like what he had imagined.
Both shocked and doubtful, Yang Kai wondered what had gone wrong. In the past, after he threw the root into the Small Sealed World and did nothing else, it took root all on its own, transforming into this sapling. Now that he had nurtured it carefully though, there were no changes at all.
While he was pondering on it, Yang Kai suddenly heard a faint rustling sound. Before he could figure out what was going on, it turned into a rumbling as the entire mountain shook. At the same time, a horrifying suction was felt coming from the sapling as it madly absorbed the World Energy around it.
An elated Yang Kai hurriedly checked on it and realised that the roots of the sapling had penetrated deep into the ground and were madly expanding. In several breaths’ time, they had expanded by more than ten kilometres, and they were still rapidly developing.
The entire barren mountain kept shaking as the roots became exposed to the air. At the same time, the gravel cracked and fell apart. On the other hand, the sapling was now rapidly growing, which forced Yang Kai to keep moving backwards.
An incense stick later, the sapling, which was only as tall as a Human some time ago, had turned into a 300-metre-tall tree. Like a great umbrella, the tree crown seemed to have covered the entire mountain peak.
Nevertheless, it still hadn’t stopped growing. The roots of the World Tree were still continuously expanding, and the tree was still unstoppably growing taller.
As the World Tree developed and influenced its surroundings, Yang Kai could see that a Void Crack that was several hundred kilometres away from this barren mountain slowly began to seal.
Wherever the roots covered, the broken World Principles solidified. It hadn’t only become complete, but it had also improved significantly.
[Success!] Back when Yang Kai obtained the World Tree’s root, he speculated that this thing would be useful to the Star Boundary. It wasn’t until this moment that he could prove it though. With this World Tree around, the problem facing the Star Boundary would be solved.
Certainly, it wasn’t the real World Tree. Strictly speaking, it was just the World Tree’s Clone as the real 3,000 Worlds Tree was still in the Primordial Land.
Yang Kai wondered if this Clone would develop 3,000 World Fruits in the future. The thought of this made him feel excited. It would be incredible if his imagination was materialised.
When the World Tree had grown by another 100 metres, its growth visibly slowed down. Yang Kai checked on it and realised that it hadn’t reached its limit, it was just that there wasn’t enough supply of energy.
It required a lot of World Energy for it to grow, but all the World Energy in a radius of several thousand kilometres had been sucked dry, and it would take some time before the World Energy from further away would flow over and replenish it.
Upon that realization, Yang Kai immediately fished out lots of Source Crystals from his Space Ring and hurled them away. Before the Source Crystals came into contact with the ground, they exploded and turned into pure World Energy.
It was then the World Tree started growing rapidly again.
Now, Source Crystals were no longer useful to Yang Kai’s cultivation, and he still had a lot of them, which could be used in this place.
In order to help the tree grow even faster, Yang Kai activated his Divine Sense and sent the same message to many people.
Just a moment later, Yang Kai pointed at the front and caused a swirl in the Void, whereupon Mo Huang stepped out of it. When he raised his head and saw a gigantic tree nearly 500 metres tall in front of him, he was stunned, “Is this the World Tree?”
When Yang Kai sent a message to everyone, he also informed them of the problem he was facing and what the World Tree needed, so Mo Huang was already aware of it.
“Strictly speaking, it’s something like the World Tree’s Soul Clone,” Yang Kai replied as he continuously scattered the Source Crystals around.
Mo Huang became jubilant, “This thing is indeed useful. The Principles in this place are different from the other areas in the Star Boundary. They’re more solid.”
Then, he also fished out a tremendous amount of Source Crystals from his Space Ring.
The next moment, Chu Tian Ji stepped out of the swirl, and without saying a word, he spread his Source Crystals around. He was followed by Zhan Wu Hen, Hua Ling Long, Yao Jun, and so on.
The Great Emperors had countless Source Crystals, and they didn’t really need them for cultivation, so now they could put them to good use.
With so many Great Emperors making a move together, the sight was magnificent. Innumerable Source Crystals turned into pure World Energy, which was then absorbed by the World Tree Clone. Like a bottomless pit, it sucked in as much World Energy as it was provided.
Following that, Hua Qing Si also brought with her the reserve from High Heaven Palace, and upon receiving the order, Wen Zhi Shan and the leaders of the other great forces from all four Territories stepped forward and respectively made contributions.
The usually deserted mountain was now bustling with noise.
Meanwhile, the World Tree was still growing. The roots expanded in all directions in the ground and seemed like they would eventually cover the entire Star Boundary. Wherever the roots spread, the World Principles would be repaired. The Death Qi, which had engulfed the Star Boundary for a long time, finally began to dissipate.
A few days later, following a rumbling sound, Zhan Wu Hen flew over from a distance and held something that looked like a Great Dragon in his hands. The thing’s aura was intimidating and was actually an entire Earth Vein.
It wasn’t certain where Zhan Wu Hen had extracted it from, but upon reaching the World Tree, he directly hurled it forward.
Instantly, the Earth Vein shattered apart and turned into surging World Energy. Like a storm, it swept across the place and shook the ground.
The storm lasted for only ten breaths of time before it dissipated as the energy was completely absorbed by the World Tree’s Soul Clone. With the help of the Earth Vein, the tree had grown another few hundred metres taller.
Meanwhile, Ice Feather Great Emperor flew over with another Earth Vein, and Martial Beast Great Emperor was doing the same thing. With many Earth Veins being used, the tree was growing rapidly again.
Initially, Yang Kai watched the tree grow with a grin, but he soon realised that something was off. That was because the World Tree’s growth was simply unstoppable.
Chu Tian Ji was extremely worried as well as he asked, “Void, is this World Tree going to suck the entire Star Boundary dry?”
Although the World Tree’s growth had solidified the Star Boundary as the broken Principles had been visibly repaired, its consumption of World Energy was horrifying. If this went on, all the World Energy in the Star Boundary would be completely gone in a few years. By then, it would be pointless even if the World Principles were stable. Without World Energy, cultivators would be unable to cultivate.
“I don’t think so.” Yang Kai was uncertain. If that was the case, he would have practically picked up a rock only to drop it on his own foot. The reason he planted the World Tree’s Soul Clone was to save the Star Boundary. If the Universe World became barren because of that, it would be a huge loss for everyone.
Presently, the tree was already 3,000 kilometres and the originally barren mountain present in this place was gone as it had been shattered by the roots. Anyone would be able to see the outline of such a gigantic tree from a long distance. On the other hand, the roots had already expanded by a radius of a million kilometres underground.
The region covered by the roots was different from the other parts in the Star Boundary as it was being transformed by a mysterious power. The broken Principles were also being repaired and improved.
Time went by quickly. One month later, the tree was already 10,000 kilometres in height.
The humongous tree crown had covered an area of several thousand kilometres. Like a great guardian, the colossal tree sheltered this area of the world. It wasn’t certain how far the roots had expanded, but they had probably covered ten percent of the entire Star Boundary’s land mass by now.
After reaching this point, the growth of the World Tree suddenly slowed down.
Yang Kai checked on it and realised that it wasn’t that the World Tree had stopped growing. It was just that they couldn’t see it anymore. The tree was no longer growing taller or bigger, but the roots underground were still obstinately expanding towards other areas of the Star Boundary.
At the same time, a mysterious power from the universe was drawn by the World Tree and then absorbed by it. Through the leaves on the crown, it turned into very pure World Energy. As a result, the World Energy of the Star Boundary was being replenished.
“The power of the Stars!” Zhan Wu Hen arched his brow.
The Great Emperors had sensitive perception, so they were able to detect all the changes that occurred in the Star Boundary. The mysterious power was obviously the power of the Stars that came from the Outer Universe.
Seeing this, Yang Kai breathed a sigh of relief.
From the looks of it, the Star Boundary was finally in a stable state, and he didn’t have to worry that the World Tree would suck the World Energy in the Star Boundary dry. The tree would absorb the power of the Stars to sustain its own growth now. When its roots were able to cover the entire Star Boundary one day, the World Principles would be completely repaired, and there might be some unforeseeable benefits.
The World Energy that had been consumed by it would be replenished after it absorbed enough power of the Stars. One day, the tree would be able to give back ten times or even a hundred times more World Energy. By then, what kind of transformation would the Star Boundary go through?
There was no doubt that the World Tree was abstruse.
An amazed Yang Kai turned around and saw that the facial complexion of the Great Emperors had become better while their breathing had also stabilised.
Since the Star Boundary had benefited greatly from the World Tree, the Great Emperors, whose fates were closely tied to the Universe World, would recover and possibly even strengthen further as well.
Standing at the bottom of the World Tree, more than ten figures were silently observing it.
Suddenly, Yang Kai detected something and fished out the artifact he used to contact Lu Xue. Upon reading the message he received and became shocked for a moment before he understood what was going on. Then, he said to the other Great Emperors, “I’ll be right back.”
The next instant, he disappeared from the spot. A moment later, he appeared in the periphery of the Star Boundary. Looking up, he saw a gigantic creature that was facing away from him and shuffling forward.
The gigantic creature was none other than Giant Spirit God Ah Da.
His movement wasn’t swift and could even be said that he was extremely slow, but every step he took could stride across a vast distance. After just two to three steps, the huge figure became as small as a black dot in the distance.
Lu Xue flew over and reported, “Sir, just now, the Giant Spirit God suddenly got up and left without saying anything.”
“Understood.” Yang Kai nodded. Ah Da was attracted to the Star Boundary due to its death aura, and he had stayed in the periphery for several dozen years, awaiting the Universe World’s death. However, the World Tree’s Soul Clone that Yang Kai had brought back had pulled the Star Boundary back from death’s door. Ah Da must have detected something, which was why he decided to leave.
Ah Da’s departure suggested that the Star Boundary’s future had been secured. If the Universe World was still on the brink of death, he wouldn’t have left. This was good news for them.
Then, Yang Kai charged forward and reached Ah Da in a moment. Hovering in front of him, he called out, “Ah Da!”
Ah Da looked down, and upon seeing that it was Yang Kai, he reached out to let him stand on his palm without stopping in his tracks. With a grin, he said, “Ah Da is leaving.”
“Where will you go?” Yang Kai asked.
Ah Da became startled for a moment before patting his belly, “Ah Da is hungry. Ah Da must look for food.”
“Stay here. I’ll give you food.” After finishing his words, Yang Kai tossed a World Bead at him.
As the Giant Spirit God munched on it, he shook his head, “It’s not enough. Ah Da needs more food!”
At that, Yang Kai was speechless. Initially, he wanted to make Ah Da stay. After all, with such a huge creature staying in the periphery, no one would dare to invade the Star Boundary. Ah Da had stayed in this place for several years, and even though he had consumed lots of World Beads, they were nothing more than snacks to him. The food he wanted was a real Universe World; however, Yang Kai was unable to give him that.
“Will we meet again?” Yang Kai shouted.
Ah Da just smiled like a fool.
After a sigh, Yang Kai yelled, “Open your mouth!”
“Ah…” Ah Da’s mouth was wide open, as though he was able to swallow an entire Star.
Several dozen World Beads were tossed into his mouth and disappeared.
“Nom, nom, nom…” Ah Da appeared pleased.
Meanwhile, Yang Kai had already leapt away from his palm. Hovering in the void, he watched him leave, and soon, Ah Da disappeared from his sight. He wasn’t certain whether they would ever meet again. Those from the Giant Spirit God Clan were benevolent, but they wouldn’t stay in the same place forever. For all their lives, they were continuously pursuing dying Universe Worlds. Their special talent allowed them to detect the aura of a dying world, and years before that happened, they would go over and wait patiently.
The Outer Universe was boundless, so after they parted ways, it was practically impossible for them to meet again.
When Yang Kai returned to the base of the World Tree, the Great Emperors were still standing there.
Mo Huang took a glance at him and asked, “What are your future plans?”
Now that the crisis facing the Star Boundary had been resolved, the burden that had bogged down everyone for decades had also been lifted. Since they no longer had to worry about the Star Boundary’s survival, it was time they thought about the future.
After giving it a thought, Yang Kai replied, “I was about to talk about it with all of you. I’ve snatched a Spirit Province in the Outer Universe and re-named it Void Land. It’s in the midst of being revitalized, so I need a lot of people to help me. So, I want all of you to come with me to help build Void Land together. Besides that, I want all the cultivators in the Star Boundary who have reached the Third-Order Emperor Realm and above to come with me, as long as they’re willing to follow me.”
Third-Order Emperor Realm Masters already had the right to head to the Outer Universe; however, they were unable to cross the void easily if they were on their own.
For those who were below the Third-Order Emperor Realm, Yang Kai wouldn’t mind bringing them with him as long as they wanted to come. He needed a lot of people to help him build Void Land, and even though many outsiders had come over to help, they were not as reliable as his own people.
Furthermore, if Void Land wanted to grow stronger, it needed fresh blood.
Hearing that, Mo Huang said, “We had no idea that there was still something bigger ahead of us. Now that we’ve found out about it, we naturally want to experience it. But… if all of us are gone, who will protect the Star Boundary? What happens if some powerful enemies come to invade this place?”
“I’ll stay,” Zhan Wu Hen grimly declared.
Duan Hong Chen grinned, “I’ll also stay.”
Seeing as the other Great Emperors were about to say something, Yang Kai hurriedly raised his hand to stop them, “Please don’t worry. I already have a plan for the Star Boundary. To be honest with you, I didn’t come back alone. I’ve brought 3 subordinates who are all Open Heaven Realm Masters, so I’ll just ask one of them to stay here and protect the Star Boundary. Moreover, the Great Territory that the Star Boundary is in is pretty barren and remote, with only a few Universe Worlds around, so usually, no one will come here.”
He had spent quite some effort before he could find the Star Boundary. No Open Heaven Realm Masters would come all the way here to make a fuss as this place didn’t have anything attractive to them. That was the reason there had never been any records regarding the Open Heaven Realm in the Star Boundary.
The Great Emperors traded glances and nodded. Since Yang Kai already had a plan in mind, they no longer had to worry about anything.
Soon, a piece of news was spread across the entire world. Void Great Emperor intended to bring all the Third-Order Emperor Realm Masters to the Outer Universe. Those who were willing to go should gather together in High Heaven Palace. Others were also welcome, but for those who were below the Third-Order Emperor Realm, they had to go to High Heaven Palace to register first before a selection process would occur.
Initially, there were many Third-Order Emperor Realm Masters in the Star Boundary, but many of them had lost their lives during the Two Worlds Great War. Now, there were only a few dozen people in that realm in total. There was no room for growth in the Star Boundary for these people, so they had to be brought to Void Land.
However, there were countless people below the Third-Order Emperor Realm, and it was impossible to bring all of them to Void Land, so a screening had to be done.
Before the Two Worlds Great War, no one was aware of the Outer Universe. After the war, Yang Kai left the Star Boundary, and it was then people became aware that there was more outside their own World, and that there were stronger Masters out there as well. Several dozen years had passed, and Void Great Emperor had returned. Not only had he solved the crisis facing the Star Boundary, but he also intended to bring many cultivators to explore the Outer Universe.
The news sent a shock wave across the world as countless cultivators began scrambling to get a place for themselves.
From the cities and great forces in all four Territories, innumerable cultivators arrived at Ice Snow City, which was just outside of High Heaven Palace in the Northern Territory, through the Space Array Network. Some disciples from High Heaven Palace were stationed there to take down names, backgrounds, cultivation, and special skills.
During that period of time, Ice Snow City became crammed with people.
In the Southern Territory, Azure Sun Temple, on Myriad Saints Peak, the Temple Master of Azure Sun Temple, Wen Zi Shan, who was clad in purple robes as he placed his hands behind his back as he stood on the edge of a cliff, watching the clouds.
Myriad Saints Peak was the Main Peak of Azure Sun Temple as well as Wen Zi Shan’s residence.
Wen Zi Shan was quietly staring at the movements of the clouds while Gao Xue Ting, who looked like a noble lady, stood beside him.
When the Sun was rising, the clouds were dyed with a golden glow, which enhanced the beauty of the scenery.
Just then, footsteps were heard coming from behind. The next moment, 3 people were heard calling out at the same time, “Greetings Temple Master, Elder Gao!”
Wen Zi Shan turned around and gazed at the 3 of them. Then, he smiled and nodded, “You’re here.”
The trio standing in front of him were the most talented among the next generation in Azure Sun Temple, Xia Sheng, Xiao Bai Yi, and Murong Xiao Xiao. In the past, they were already the brightest disciples in the Sect, and now, they had grown to be fairly powerful Elders. All of them were in the Second Order Emperor Realm.
Xia Sheng cupped his fists and asked, “Temple Master, why did you summon us?”
Compared to decades ago, Xia Sheng was now a calmer man. In the past, he was pretty willful, but after the great war, he had matured tremendously.
“I have a piece of good news.” Wen Zi Shan sported an amiable smile.
Xia Sheng replied, “Temple Master, please enlighten us.”
Xiao Bai Yi and Murong Xiao Xiao were also looking doubtfully at him, wondering what kind of good news the Temple Master was talking about.
Wen Zi Shan went on to say, “The thing is, all of you are in the Second-Order Emperor Realm, and there is rarely anyone stronger than you in the Star Boundary. Hence, I think it’s time for you 3 to go through an even harder trial and take on a more difficult task.”
Hearing that, the 3 of them turned solemn.
“I’ll choose one person from the 3 of you to inherit the position of Temple Master; however, all of you have your respective virtues, so it’s difficult for this King to make a decision. I’ll need to give it a thought.”
When Xia Sheng and the others heard that, they traded glances before a hesitant Murong Xiao Xiao asked, “Temple Master, are you saying that you’ll pass on your position?”
“Yes!” Wen Zi Shan nodded his head.
With a frown, Murong Xiao Xiao said, “But Temple Master, even though we’re all in the Emperor Realm, we’re still young and inexperienced. So, how are we going to inherit the position of Temple Master? Even if one of us is willing to take on that position, no one will obey us.”
Smiling, Wen Zi Shan replied, “You don’t have to worry about that. With this King behind you, no one will dare to criticize you. Moreover, we need young people like you to bring the Temple to greater heights. Maybe you’ll do a better job than old people like us.”
Xiao Bai Yi cupped his fists and stressed, “Temple Master, please think through it carefully. The Temple is not in a perilous situation. If you rashly pass on your position, some problems might arise. What if the foundation of the Temple is…”
Wen Zi Shan raised his hand to stop him, “I’ve made up my mind.”
A doubtful Xia Sheng gaped at him before muttering, “Temple Master, I’ve heard that Senior Void intends to bring some people to the Outer Universe.”
“There’s no such thing,” Wen Zi Shan refuted. “How can you believe such baseless rumours?”
Xiao Bai Yi shot back, “I’ve heard that Senior Void will bring all the Third-Order Emperor Realm Masters with him, and those who are below the Third-Order Emperor Realm can head to Ice Snow Valley to register before being selected accordingly.”
“That’s nonsense!” Wen Zi Shan kept a smile on his face.
Murong Xiao Xiao stared at Wen Zi Shan for a time before pointing out, “Temple Master, even though Senior Void is a Great Emperor now, he used to cultivate alongside us in the past. So… we can contact him.”
Wen Zi Shan’s face twitched as he let out a hollow laugh, “I see… So, you’ve found out about it. In that case, this King will stop hiding it from you.”
He coughed, “That’s right. Senior Void wants to bring some people to the Outer Universe. Your Martial Aunt Gao and I are going as well. So, before I leave, I want to let one of you take over the position of Temple Master; after all, a Sect cannot survive without a leader. Someone has to be in charge of the Temple after we’re gone. I think all of you are suitable for the position. Xia Sheng, you’re the Eldest Senior Brother, so you must take over the position. You mustn’t disappoint this King and your Martial Aunt Gao!”
Pretending that he didn’t hear him, Xia Sheng looked up at the sky.
The veins on Wen Zi Shan’s forehead throbbed as he turned to look at Xiao Bai Yi, “Xiao Bai, even though you’re slightly weaker than Xia Sheng, you’re the most rational among the three of you. This King intends to pass on the position of Temple Master to you. I believe that you’ll be able to bring the Temple to greater heights!”
Xiao Bai Yi just picked his ear and looked away.
With a livid expression, Wen Zi Shan gazed at Murong Xiao Xiao and solemnly declared, “Xiao Xiao, even though you’re a woman, you’re more powerful than most men. Do you like the idea of becoming the Temple Master? If you do, you can take the seal of the Temple Master right now. With this King helping you on the side, you’ll be able to fully refine it in just a few days. Since the founding of the Temple, there has never been a female Temple Master. If you agree to it, you’ll be the first ever. By then, your name will be remembered throughout the ages, and all future disciples and descendants will all look up to you.”
Murong Xiao Xiao refuted meekly, “Temple Master, since the founding of our Temple, you’ve been the only Temple Master, right?”
“Don’t be concerned about such trifles.”
“But…” Murong Xiao Xiao hesitantly said, “The 3 of us have already registered with the disciples in Ice Snow Valley.”
“What?” As if struck by lightning, Wen Zi Shan turned ashen, “When did that happen?”
“Yesterday,” Murong Xiao Xiao replied in a hushed voice.
As though he had taken an arrow to the heart, Wen Zi Shan covered his chest and stared at them, “This King is truly disappointed in you all. Just when the Temple needs you, all of you… How could you make such a rash move? It pains this King’s heart so!”
Xia Sheng retorted, “Temple Master, we’d like to experience the wonders of the Outer Universe as well. If we take over your seal, how are we supposed to go?”
“But all of you can’t leave just like this!” Wen Zi Shan was incensed, “Who is going to look after the Temple if all of you are gone?”
After giving it a thought, Xiao Bai Yi said seriously, “In that case, why don’t you stay here?”
“Little bastards!” Wen Zi Shan bellowed as he almost spat out some saliva, “You want to experience the Outer Universe and think this King doesn’t? What a bunch of ungrateful wolves! This King has spent years raising and teaching you since you were young children and this is how you repay my favour? I’m truly overwhelmed with rage at this betrayal!”
The 3 of them fell silent and let Wen Zi Shan reprimand them.
After he became exhausted, Xia Sheng cupped his fists and said, “Temple Master, if there’s nothing else, we’ll take our leave.”
Then, he gave a hint at Xiao Bai Yi and Murong Xiao Xiao with his eyes, whereupon the 3 of them said simultaneously, “Farewell!”
Following that, they ran towards the bottom of the mountain.
“Don’t go! We can still talk about this!” Wen Zi Shan called out to them, but none of them bothered to reply to him.
In the blink of an eye, all of them were gone.
Wen Zi Shan said through clenched teeth, “A pack of ungrateful wolves! Little Xue Ting, did you see that? Those little bastards have no regard for me at all now!”
Smilingly, Gao Xue Ting replied, “Alright, alright, don’t get mad at them.” As she spoke, she walked over and patted his heaving chest to placate him, “If I were them, I wouldn’t have accepted your seal at this point either. They’re adults now, and they have their own goals and dreams. Isn’t that a good thing?”
“But, what about the Temple?” Wen Zi Shan questioned.
Gao Xue Ting said with a smile, “Why don’t I…”
“I’ll take charge of the Temple,” someone was heard saying. Qiu Ran shuffled out of the clouds and saluted them, “Temple Master, Madame.”
A shocked Wen Zi Shan gazed at him, “Junior Brother Qiu, you…”
With a smile, Qiu Ran stressed, “I’m old now, so I don’t like moving around much. It’s better if I just stay here. No one knows what’s going to happen in the Outer Universe other than Senior Void, but I know that it will be a long journey to a foreign land. Old people tend to get nostalgic and homesick more easily, so I’ll just stay here.”
…..
In the Grand Hall of the Liu Family in the Eastern Territory, with many Elders as witnesses, the Liu Family Patriarch passed the seal to a young man and declared, “Brat, from now on, you’re the Patriarch of the Liu Family. Your aptitude is average, but you’re a reliable man. I don’t expect you to expand our family, but I want you to keep it going at least. You mustn’t disappoint our ancestors!”
The Young Master of the Liu Family took the seal and fell on his knees, “Father, I’ll always remember your teachings.”
The Liu Family Patriarch nodded, “I’ll be able to rest assured, then. I’ll head to Ice Snow City in the Northern Territory tomorrow. If everything goes well, I’ll follow Senior Void to the Outer Universe. If you ever want to meet me again in your lifetime, cultivate harder. Senior Void has said that whoever can ascend to the Third-Order Emperor Realm in the future will be brought to the Outer Universe.”
Hearing that, the Young Master pressed his head against the floor, “Father, Uncles, I wish you all the best.”
In Sky Grasping City in the Eastern Territory, City Lord Xu Tian He was only in the First-Order Emperor Realm, but at this moment, he summoned his favourite Son, intending to make him the new City Lord.
On Immaculate Island in the Northern Territory, Island Master Jiang Zhou Zi clenched a young man’s collar and pressed him into a glorious throne. After stuffing the seal of the Island Master into his hands, he patted his shoulders, “Boy, you’re the Island Master of Immaculate Island from now on.”
The young man sported a sorrowful expression, “Master, you can’t do this to me. I don’t want to be the Island Master! I want to follow Senior Void to make a name for myself in the Outer Universe!”
“Stop spouting nonsense. I’ll follow Senior Void, while you’ll stay here to manage the island. You’ll be better off this way. Come! Everyone! Salute your new Island Master!” Jiang Zhou Zi demanded, whereupon the Elders and disciples cupped their fists with awkward expressions.
“Greetings, Island Master…”
Similar scenes took place over and over again across all four Territories. Countless people were scrambling to follow the Void Great Emperor to the Outer Universe. The cultivators without any ties could immediately head to Ice Snow City and register, but for people like Jiang Zhou Zi, Liu Family Patriarch, and the City Lord of Sky Grasping City, it wasn’t easy for them to leave. They had to make some proper arrangements first. Soon, about 70% of the great forces in the Star Boundary had news leaders.
Two rays of light were seen heading towards Ice Snow City. After they landed outside the entrance, the figures of two young men were revealed. One of them was burly and ordinary-looking, while the other was handsome and had a noble air about him.
Upon looking up, both of them were stunned.
The burly man exclaimed, “Zi Xiao, there are so many people here!”
The handsome man called Zi Xiao explained, “Senior Void has returned with news regarding the Outer Universe, and he intends to bring some people with him, which is why many people have come over. It has only been ten days since the news was spread, but we can already see so many people gathering together here, which goes to show that Senior Void is truly influential. As time passes, there will be even more people. Xiao Wu, we’ll have to work harder so that we’ll be able to follow Senior Void and make a name for ourselves.”
With a serious expression, Xiao Wu nodded and balled up his fists, “Yes, we can definitely do this!”
“Let’s get into the city first,” Zi Xiao said, then the two of them passed through the main gates.
Looking from outside the city, they could see that the place was crammed with people, but upon entering it, they realised that it was different from what they had thought. The city was actually incredibly expansive and even though there were many people inside, it didn’t feel crowded at all. Instead, the place even appeared somewhat spacious.
The two of them were astounded, not knowing what was going on.
While they were in a dazed state, someone approached them and asked smilingly, “Little Brothers, are you here to register?”
“What?” Xiao Wu scratched his head and hurriedly nodded, “Yes, yes. We’re here to register. You are…”
The person replied with a smile, “I’m a disciple from High Heaven Palace, and my surname is Xu. You can just call me Senior Brother Xu. I’m responsible for bringing people like you to different places to register.”
“You’re a disciple from High Heaven Palace?” The gazes of the two young men brightened as they looked fervently at him, their eyes filled with admiration and envy.
In the past, after Yang Kai obtained the World’s Will and became a Great Emperor, he led the major armies of the Star Boundary to fight against the Demon Race and managed to save the last pure land before turning back the enemy. Since then, High Heaven Palace had become famous throughout the world.
Countless people dreamed of joining High Heaven Palace; unfortunately, over the years, they had never recruited any disciples, which made these cultivators unable to realise their dreams.
The two young men came from humble backgrounds and even though they had heard a lot about High Heaven Palace, it was the first time they visited the Northern Territory and come across a disciple from that Sect.
At that instant, they felt that Senior Brother Xu was indeed different from others. Just like the Sun, he was practically glowing. Furthermore, they could sense that Senior Brother Xu was in the Dao Source Realm at the very least.
[High Heaven Palace is indeed different. Even a disciple responsible for guiding people has such a strong cultivation!] The two young men were astonished.
The young man called Zi Xiao was much calmer though and after a moment of shock, he cupped his fists, “Greetings, Senior Brother Xu. May I ask you a question? Given our cultivation, where do we go to register?”
Senior Brother Xu replied with a smile, “If I’m not mistaken, the two of you are in the Origin Returning Realm.”
An embarrassed Zi Xiao scratched his head, “Senior Brother, this is embarrassing for us. We started cultivating at an older age.” Then, he lowered his voice, “Senior Brother Xu, given our cultivation, do you think we stand a chance to follow Senior Void? I can see that all the cultivators here are quite strong.”
An Origin Returning Realm Master could be considered a top cultivator in a Lower Star Fields, but he would be too weak in the Star Boundary to take note of. The two of them had hesitated for a long time about whether they should even come to Ice Snow City. In the end, their desire overcame their sense of inferiority as they paid for the Space Array and arrived at the city nearest to Ice Snow City.
Senior Brother Xu guffawed, “Cultivation isn’t everything about how Senior Void chooses the people who will follow him to the Outer Universe. Certainly, cultivation is a part of it, but if you have some special skills or talents, you’ll still stand a chance.”
“Special skills?” Zi Xiao arched his brow.
“Alchemy, Artifact Refining, Spirit Arrays, and so on. As long as there’s something you’re good at, you can show it to us.”
Hearing that, the two of them traded glances and replied in unison, “We’re good at setting up Spirit Arrays.”
Senior Brother Xu nodded his head, “Very good. Come this way. I’ll lead you to the registration place for Array Masters.” As he spoke, he guided them forward.
Walking along the spacious streets, the pair were like two countryside bumpkins as they looked around in amazement. At the same time, they kept pointing at whatever they saw.
Suddenly, Zi Xiao asked, “Senior Brother Wu, when we were looking from outside, Ice Snow City didn’t seem to be this big. Why does it feel different after we’ve come in?”
With a smile, Senior Brother Xu replied, “You’ve sensed it? Not bad. Your perception is pretty sharp. Ice Snow City really isn’t this big. Initially, this city could only accommodate a million people, but currently, there are more than 10 million inside. With that said, there’s still room to accommodate another 10 million people. This is all thanks to Senior Void.”
“Is he using some kind of Secret Technique?” Zi Xiao turned solemn as if he suddenly thought of something.
Senior Brother Xu scratched his head, “I have no idea, but Senior Void is a Master in the Dao of Space, so he might have used some kind of technique. In any case, Ice Snow City is very spacious now.”
“Senior Void is indeed powerful.” Zi Xiao appeared fervent.
Xiao Wu guffawed, “There will come a day when the two of us will become just as powerful!”
Senior Brother Xu said, “You two are certainly ambitious. Good, that’s where you can register. Just walk over on your own as I have to lead the way for other people. I’ll take my leave now.”
“Many thanks, Senior Brother Xu!” They bent their backs to thank him.
Senior Brother Xu waved his hand and disappeared into the crowd.
After he was gone, the pair turned to look at the Grand Hall where many people were seen entering and leaving. Apparently, just like them, these people were here to register.
Then, they encouraged one another for a bit before going in.
They swept a glance over the Grand Hall and realised that it had been divided into several dozen areas. Every area was overseen by a cultivator who was dressed in High Heaven Palace’s uniform, and many cultivators were lined up in front of every area.
The two young men chose a place with relatively fewer people and waited patiently.
Soon, it was their turn. They walked up and cupped their fists, “Greetings, Senior Brother.” They sported extremely solemn expressions.
The High Heaven Palace’s disciple behind the desk took a glance at them and said with a smile, “There’s no need to be nervous. You’ll just have to register and go through a test.”
Despite that, the two young men still appeared anxious. Following the disciple’s instructions, the two of them announced their names, ages, and special skills.
The disciple gazed at them in shock, “You’re able to achieve such cultivation after cultivating for only 12 years, so your aptitudes are truly incredible. More importantly, you’ve even studied the Dao of Spirit Arrays. In that case, why don’t you set up an Aura Gathering Array here?”
The two young men nodded and started working. It was just a simple test that the cultivators before them had gone through, not something targeted at them; therefore, they immediately got busy. The Aura Gathering Array was one of the simplest Spirit Arrays, so basically every Array Master could arrange one.
Those from High Heaven Palace wouldn’t provide any materials, so the two of them had to come up with a solution on their own. Fortunately, they had already set up the Aura Gathering Array countless times in the past, so they were familiar with it.
While they were working, a person stepped into the Grand Hall with his hands behind his back as he looked around the various areas. All the cultivators who had registered were required to arrange an Aura Gathering Array and this man would stop and observe each test area. Sometimes, he would nod with an approving look while at others he would simply shake his head.
Soon, he reached the area where Zi Xiao and Xiao Wu were. Seeing him, the disciple in charge of this area hurriedly rose from his seat, but just when he was about to salute this newcomer, the man waved his hand to motion for him to calm himself.
The disciple smiled and took a seat again.
That person took a glance at the Aura Gathering Array that was being set up by Zi Xiao and Xiao Wu, and his gaze brightened as observed attentively.
The disciple was slightly shocked. Others might have no idea who this person was, but he was certainly aware. In the entire Star Boundary, no one could surpass him when it came to Dao of Spirit Arrays. Since his interest had been piqued, did it mean that there was something special about the Aura Gathering Array being built by these two youngsters?
In fact, the disciple knew a thing or two about the Dao of Spirit Arrays, which was why he was stationed in this registration place, so after a moment of observation, he realised that the Aura Gathering Array set up by these two young men was a little different from the other ones that he had seen.
There were many kinds of Aura Gathering Arrays, but they all followed roughly the same pattern. There were 49 optimal methods to arrange such an array in total, but to his surprise, the Aura Gathering Array before his eyes wasn’t one of them.
[What kind of a setup is this?]
While he was puzzled, Zi Xiao and Xiao Wu had stopped as they let out a breath. Zi Xiao then said, “Senior Brother, we’ve set up the Aura Gathering Array. Please examine it.”
Looking up, the disciple gazed at the person behind them. With this person around, it wasn’t his place to examine this work.
Sensing something, Zi Xiao and Xiao Wu turned their heads, only to see a person standing behind them.
The person stroked his beard and squatted down in an inelegant manner. Staring fixedly at the Aura Gathering Array, he commented, “The materials used have been reduced by 10%, and there are two array bases that can be excluded this way. However, the effectiveness has increased by 20%. This kind of technique leans more towards ancient methods and is not common to see nowadays.”
Hearing that, Zi Xiao and Xiao Wu were stunned.
The person went on to say, “The way this array is set up is unique, but the execution is somewhat lacklustre. It seems you were not personally taught by a Master. If you can improve your skills, the effectiveness of this Aura Gathering Array will be increased by 10%.”
At this point, the man got up and nodded, “It’s not bad.”
Then, he looked smilingly at the two of them, “You must have obtained the inheritance of some ancient Senior, right?”
Instantly, Zi Xiao and Xiao Wu became vigilant, for what the person in front of them had said was right. They were the sons of a common hunter, and when they were young kids, they accidentally lost their way on a certain mountain and eventually came across a cave, only to find a skeleton inside it, a skeleton they obtained something precious from.
Without any teacher, they used what they had obtained to become cultivators on their own.
This was their greatest secret, but it was exposed by some stranger they had never met before. At that instant, they felt the urge to silence him in order to keep their secret safe.
“Oh?” The person seemed to have noticed their murderous intent. As he looked smilingly at the two of them, his aura surged all of a sudden.
Zi Xiao and Xiao Wu felt as though they had been hit by a mountain and grunted and stepped backwards as the vitality in their chests weltered.
[He’s an Emperor Realm Master!] Both of them were horrified as this ordinary-looking man was actually in the Emperor Realm. They were only in the Origin Returning Realm, so how were they supposed to resist his pressure?
If it weren’t because this man had restricted 99% of his aura, they would’ve exploded under the pressure.
Their Souls trembled for a long time, and when they came to their senses, the man was already nowhere in sight. They traded glances and realised that both of them were drenched in cold sweat.
“Congratulations, you two.” The disciple from High Heaven Palace rose from the chair and cupped his fists.
Zi Xiao and Xiao Wu were perplexed, wondering why he congratulated them. After brushing away the cold sweat on his forehead, Zi Xiao asked, “Senior Brother, who was that man?”
The disciple replied with a smile, “You’re adept in the Dao of Spirit Arrays, but you’re not aware of who he is?”
An embarrassed Zi Xiao also asked, “We both lived in a small village all our lives and are a bit inexperienced. Senior Brother, please enlighten us.”
With a solemn expression, the disciple replied, “His surname is Nanmen…”
The pupils of Zi Xiao and Xiao Wu contracted when they heard that and the latter exclaimed, “He was Sir Nanmen Da Jun?”
“That’s right.”
The two of them became rooted to the spot.
As Array Masters, they had naturally heard of Nanmen Da Jun before. He was acknowledged as the top Array Master in the entire Star Boundary and it was said that the Sect Defending Array of High Heaven Palace was arranged by him personally. During the Two Worlds Great War, High Heaven Palace had relied on this Array to resist the invasion from the Demon Race countless times, which ensured that the last pure land in the Star Boundary could be saved.
It could be said that the reason the Star Boundary was still around was thanks to Void Great Emperor, but Nammen Da Jun had also made a significant contribution.
Even though they lived in a remote village, they had repeatedly heard of Nanmen Da Jun before.
The two of them had always looked up to this Grandmaster, imagining that they would be as powerful as he was one day. By then, they could converse with him about the Dao of Spirit Arrays freely.
It was inconceivable that such a Grandmaster had appeared beside them and commented on the Aura Gathering Array they had arranged randomly. However, they actually thought about trying to silence him to keep their secret safe.
If they were aware of his identity earlier, they would never have had this kind of thought.
At that instant, Xiao Wu was scratching his face, which was red now, “Zi Xiao…”
Zi Xiao had no idea what to say either. Suddenly, he let out a long sigh with a dejected expression. He was worried that Grandmaster Nanmen found them to be useless after what they had done.
Just then, the disciple was heard saying, “Senior Nanmen has never given anyone such high regards. Little Brothers, it seems that he’s approved of your mastery in the Dao of Spirit Arrays…”
“What did you just say?” Xiao Wu gazed at him in shock, “You said Grandmaster Nanmen had given us high regards?”
[Why wasn’t I aware of this?]
The disciple followed up, “He said that your array was not bad. He has looked around this place several times, but has never said so to anyone else. Little Brothers, please keep it up and don’t disappoint Senior Nanmen.”
The two of them were still muddle-headed as they left the Grand Hall.
…
High Heaven Peak was the Main Peak of High Heaven Palace, and in the master bedroom, a number of naked bodies could be seen lying on the massive bed as an amorous smell permeated the room.
Presently, Shan Qing Luo was clinging on to Yang Kai like she was an octopus. Yang Kai raised his hand and gently pushed her away. Then, he got up and saw that the ladies were all still asleep.
The sight made him chuckle.
It had been a long time since he last bedded a woman, so he had been a little rough over the past few days. Although these ladies had all ascended to the Third-Order Emperor Realm or higher, they were unable to withstand his vigour. All of them had collapsed on the bed after begging Yang Kai to let them off earlier.
A relentless Shan Qing Luo was determined to compete against him, but she passed out in the end. Before her, Su Yan, Xia Ning Chang, and Xue Yue were already exhausted and had fallen asleep.
It was Yu Ru Meng, who had the greatest stamina and continued making love to him; after all, she was a Charm Demon Saint, so her strength was truly extraordinary. However, when it came to physical prowess and restorative powers, she was no match for Yang Kai. Presently, she had curled up in a corner of the bed as her tender body twitched every once in a while.
On the other hand, Yang Kai felt that he could still continue for another hundred rounds. After getting out of bed, he put on his clothes and walked out of the room with dishevelled hair.
Outside the room, Head Manager Hua Qing Si was already waiting respectfully. When she caught a glimpse of the sight inside the room, she couldn’t help blushing.
As Yang Kai shuffled forward, he asked, “How is it going in Ice Snow City?”
“I was about to report this to you.” Hua Qing Si followed him closely, “After the news was spread, the people from all four Territories were ecstatic. Countless people have come to Ice Snow City to register. About 30 million people have registered in the last half a month.”
“That’s a staggering figure!” Yang Kai was shocked. He knew that many people would come to register, but the figure still stunned him.
“Sir, how many people do you intend to bring with you this time?” Hua Qing Si asked respectfully, “Please give me a number so that it’ll be easier for us to filter the candidates.”
“500,000 at most.” After reaching the outer hall, Yang Kai adjusted his clothes and took a seat, whereupon a maidservant served him tea before leaving.
“500,000…” Hua Qing Si smiled helplessly. It was a difficult task to select 500,000 people from 30 million. Moreover, it had only been half a month since the recruitment began, and more people would come to register in the coming days.
Her Palace Master had put her in a tight spot. With that said, it wasn’t the first time Yang Kai had given her such a difficult task over the years. As Head Manager of High Heaven Palace, she knew how to share his burden.
“For those from High Heaven Palace…” she hesitantly said.
“They’ll be selected fairly just like everyone else.” Yang Kai took a sip of the tea, “Other than the Third-Order Emperor Realm Masters that must come with me, everyone else has to demonstrate enough ability if they want to head to the Outer Universe. Cultivation is just one of the criteria. More importantly, we have to look at their moldability and potential for growth. Besides that, the Outer Universe is unlike the Star Boundary as it’s paved with danger, so you have to make this clear to them as well.”
“Yes,” Hua Qing Si replied, “I’ll make the arrangements now. Everything will be ready in 2 months, so Sir, please get ready as well.”
Then, she prepared to leave.
Yang Kai raised his hand, “Head Manager, wait a moment!”
“Sir, is there anything else?”
An embarrassed Yang Kai scratched his head and spoke up, “Please help me comb my hair… I have to meet my parents.”
Hua Qing Si burst into a fit of giggles as she said, “I can’t help you with that… but I know someone who can. I’ll summon her now as she’s been waiting for you for some time now.”
Without waiting for Yang Kai to agree to it, Hua Qing Si immediately fished out a communication artifact and contacted someone. A moment later, a figure walked into the hall in an elegant manner.
“I’ll take my leave now.” Hua Qing Si laughed meaningfully before calmly leaving.
While Yang Kai was staring at this newcomer, she was also gazing at him with a reddened face. After saluting him, she greeted, “Senior Brother.”
“Junior Sister Yao…” Yang Kai burst into laughter.
The person was none other than Ji Yao.
Pressing her lips together, Ji Yao said in a soft voice, “Head Manager told me that you need someone to comb your hai… Ah!”
Before she could finish her words, she felt an immense force pulling her as she uncontrollably fell forward and crashed into Yang Kai’s embrace. Feeling the familiar aura and smelling the familiar scent, she was extremely nervous.
Looking up, she saw Yang Kai gazing smilingly at her, “We haven’t met for years. Junior Sister, why are you acting so polite to me now?”
Her lashes fluttered, and her breathing became rapid. She repeatedly parted her lips, but she was unable to say a single word.
“If you remain silent, I’ll just do whatever I want!” Yang Kai grinned and carried Ji Yao up before shuffling towards the inner hall.
Feeling that something was off, Ji Yao asked anxiously, “Senior Brother, w-w-what are you trying to do?”
Yang Kai grinned and replied with a determined gaze, “I’m making a confession.”
“W-What do you mean by that?” Ji Yao became more flustered.
Yang Kai had already reached a room and kicked the door open. Upon seeing the sight in the room, Ji Yao widened her eyes in disbelief.
She could see a few naked ‘corpses’ in the room, their clothes scattered everywhere. The entire room looked just like a battlefield, and the scent of intimacy still lingered in the air. The women lying on the bed and the ground were convulsing and subconsciously mumbling.
Ji Yao had never seen such a brutal sight before. At that moment, she wouldn’t even dare to breathe a little louder.
It wasn’t until Yang Kai gently set her down on the bed that she almost burst into tears. With her eyes trembling, she exclaimed, “Senior Brother!” She pressed her hands against the man’s chest as though she was trying to resist a huge mountain.
“They’ve all been slain by me, and now it’s your turn.” Yang Kai laughed.
Was this the kind of confession he was talking about? Ji Yao was torn between tears and laughter. At the same time, she felt conflicted deep down inside.
Looking up, she saw Yang Kai gazing lovingly at her. Even though his expression appeared determined, and there didn’t seem to be any room for rejection, he didn’t make a move.
She knew that as long as she appeared to be reluctant, he would never force himself upon her. Then, she asked herself whether she still wanted to hide this secret from everyone.
Did she still want to stand in a faraway place and look on as the other women surrounded and smiled with him? Did she still have to come up with excuses to approach him even though she was extremely worried and missed him dearly?
The sense of fluster behind her gaze dissipated as she gently closed her eyes and wrapped her hands around the man’s neck. Despite the fact that a single tear rolled down from the corner of her eye, she sported a joyful smile.
Yang Kai raised his hand and wiped away the teardrop before kissing her long smooth hair. Then, he slowly stripped off her robes and, for the first time, bonded with her in a true sense.
Unlike how rough he was with his other wives earlier, Yang Kai was as gentle as a spring breeze this time. Two became one and enjoyed the moment together.
Yu Ru Meng slightly opened her eyes and faintly saw something, but she dozed off again due to exhaustion and subconsciously muttered, “Enemy of all women…”
Hearing that, Ji Yao stiffened and shuddered while Yang Kai’s lips curved into an evil smile, which made her flush.
A long time later, Ji Yao slipped off into dreamland, and when she awakened, she realised that some people were staring at her in the room.
As she regained her senses, she recalled what had happened and exclaimed. Then, she grabbed the quilt and covered herself up.
She was too embarrassed to face anyone!
“Greetings, Father, Mother!” Yang Kai adjusted his clothes and fell on his knees before saluting his parents.
“Get up, quickly!” Dong Su Zhu hurriedly helped him up and looked up at him with slightly reddened eyes. After tucking his hair behind his ear, she complained, “You’re a Great Emperor now, so you shouldn’t fall to your knees so easily. It’ll be embarrassing if others see you doing this.”
“So what if he’s a Great Emperor? Does he not have parents?” Yang Ying Feng snorted on the side, “I gave him life and raised him. So what if he kne…”
Feeling a murderous intent, he turned his head and saw Dong Su Zhu glaring at him with gritted teeth. Hurriedly, he took a sip of the tea and gulped down what he was about to say.
After shooting him one more glare to warn him, Dong Su Zhu turned her head and looked smilingly at Yang Kai. Then, she made him sit beside her and sized him up. She could not stop looking at him, and there was a proud and happy smile on her face.
[He’s my son!] She had never expected that the little one she could carry in her arms in the past would grow up to be such a powerful man one day. She felt proud that he had achieved great things in life.
Moreover, she was now a greatly respected lady thanks to her son. Even though her cultivation wasn’t very powerful, no one in the Star Boundary would dare to look down on her. When the Pseudo-Great Emperors visited High Heaven Palace, they would always give their respects to her and her Husband.
Hence, she was satisfied with what she had. As a mother, she didn’t expect her son to be wealthy and powerful, she just wanted him to be safe for all his life. Now that Yang Kai was healthy and doing well, she was more than happy.
She went on to have a chat with Yang Kai. Most of the time, she was the one asking all sorts of questions while Yang Kai replied to her accordingly. She didn’t ask about the Outer Universe because she knew that he must have encountered a lot of danger in the past 15 or so years, so she was worried that she couldn’t bear it if she became aware of it all.
Presently, Yang Kai was a Great Emperor, and every move he made would affect the trillions of lives in the Star Boundary; therefore, she couldn’t influence him in whatever he did like she used to in the past. Otherwise, she would be harming the interest of the Star Boundary.
On the side, Yang Ying Feng was seated calmly. Although he appeared dispassionate, he was actually all ears so he wouldn’t miss out on any details in their conversation.
One hour later, Yang Kai raised his head and asked, “Father, are you suffering from any internal injury?”
He already noticed it when he entered this place earlier. Most of the time, his father’s aura was stable, but there were times when it became unsteady for a moment. Apparently, he was suffering from an internal injury. Yang Kai was aware of that because he was a Great Emperor who had incredibly sharp eyesight. Any other Pseudo-Great Emperors wouldn’t have noticed had they not been paying special attention.
Yang Ying Feng became startled for a moment before waving his hand, “It doesn’t matter. Don’t worry.”
With a frown, Yang Kai asked, “How long has it been?”
Before Yang Ying Feng could say anything, Dong Su Zhu answered it for him, “It’s been more than 30 years.”
[More than 30 years!] That meant that the incident took place after the Two Worlds War and during the period of time when he was refining his Wood Element Power. After the war, Yang Kai spent 50 years refining the essence of the Immortal Tree and stabilizing his cultivation before he left the Star Boundary.
However, when he left, he informed no one and did so in a secretive manner.
“Let me have a look.” Then, he got up and approached Yang Ying Feng before placing his fingers on his father’s wrist.
Yang Ying Feng parted his lips, but in the end, he let Yang Kai check on him without saying a word.
As Yang Kai used his Divine Sense, he examined his father for a moment before frowning, “Was the internal injury formed when you broke through to the Emperor Realm?”
Yang Ying Feng and Dong Su Zhu were pretty weak, as they were only in the First-Order Emperor Realm; after all, their aptitudes were not outstanding. It was only thanks to the near-unlimited support from High Heaven Palace that they had such achievements.
His father’s injury was not serious, but it also couldn’t be dismissed either. If left untreated, it would be troublesome when Yang Ying Feng cultivated in the future.
“The injury… seems to have been caused due to an unstable foundation. Father, why did you try to rush your cultivation?” Yang Kai was torn between tears and laughter. The injury was not caused by an external force. Instead, it was Yang Ying Feng who had cultivated without any restraint, beyond what his body could tolerate.
Yang Ying Feng snorted, “You’re now a Great Emperor. Even though I don’t expect to be as powerful as you are, a father cannot be too weak and embarrass his son.”
At that, Yang Kai was lost for words.
“Can it be treated?” Dong Su Zhu asked nervously. The couple didn’t talk to anyone about his injury. That was because after the great war, the Star Boundary was in the midst of rebuilding, so they didn’t want to burden the resources of High Heaven Palace.
“It’s not very serious. I’ll ask Ning Chang to make some pills later. You should consume the pills every day, and I’ll come over to help you clear your meridians every five days. In just one month, you’ll fully recover.”
In the past, he wouldn’t have any solution to this problem; however, given his capabilities and knowledge now, it was easy for Yang Kai to treat this kind of injury.
“Wonderful!” Dong Su Zhu breathed a sigh of relief. Yang Ying Feng, who sported a grim expression, seemed to be relieved as well.
Yang Kai stressed, “But Father, you can’t cultivate too hard again in the future. In the past, you taught me to exercise moderation in whatever I did. After you two enter the Outer Universe, there will be greater and better resources for you, so I’m sure your cultivation will improve steadily then.”
The couple traded glances, before Dong Su Zhu hesitantly said, “We were about to discuss this with you. We… don’t intend to head to the Outer Universe for now.”
“Why?” Yang Kai was stunned.
With a smile, Dong Su Zhu explained, “We love this place; moreover, after all of you are gone, someone must remain here and take care of this place for you. Your Father and I will stay here to help you manage your home. If you face any difficulties in the outside world, you can always come back here and have a place to stay.”
Yang Kai burst into laughter, “Some other people will take care of this place, so you two…”
Before he could finish his words, Yang Ying Feng raised his hand to stop him, “We know you are filial, but your Mother and I are only in the First-Order Emperor Realm, and we’re not ambitious people. Even if we follow you to the Outer Universe, we won’t be able to help you in any way; instead, we might even hold you back. In that case, we’d rather stay here… Furthermore, I can feel that there has been some kind of transformation in the Star Boundary recently, as though it is in the process of being reborn. It must have something to do with you, right?”
In response, Yang Kai nodded his head. Even though the World Tree had absorbed a lot of World Energy from the Star Boundary, which depleted it significantly, it had saved the Universe World from shattering. The world had been strengthened, and the Principles had been repaired. In the long term, it would be greatly beneficial to the Star Boundary. In the short term, it was safe to say that the Star Boundary had been reborn.
Yang Ying Feng was an Emperor Realm Master, so it wasn’t odd that he could vaguely sense this change.
“There are resources in the Outer Universe that are unavailable in the Star Boundary, and perhaps your Mother and I will improve faster if we follow you, but I have a feeling that we’ll obtain greater benefits if we remain here.” Yang Ying Feng stared at him, “So, stop trying to change our mind. We’ve already made our decision.”
At that, Yang Kai fell silent. Others might not know what was going on, but he was fully aware of it.
His Father was right to say that there would be better resources if they followed him to the Outer Universe, and their cultivation would improve faster as a result, but there were also benefits to be gained if they stayed in the Star Boundary.
The Star Boundary had practically been reborn, and the World Principles were in the process of being rebuilt; therefore, cultivators who stayed here would grow alongside the Star Boundary as it recovered and improved. It would be easier for them to comprehend Principle Strength and even World Principles, and they would be closely connected to the Star Boundary. One day, they might be able to comprehend deeper mysteries of the Heavenly Way by studying this unique process. Strengthening one’s foundation was more important than any resource could ever be.
All in all, it would be wonderful if they left the Star Boundary, but there were also benefits to be gained if they chose to stay. The two options couldn’t be compared fairly.
Otherwise, Yang Kai would’ve taken all Emperor Realm Masters away instead of making some of them stay. However, it was a different case for Third-Order Emperor Realm Masters. They had already reached the peak of the Star Boundary’s Martial Dao, so it was pointless for them to stay. What they needed to do was comprehend their own Grand Dao and condense their Dao Seals.
The Star Boundary, a reborn world, was unable to help them with that; therefore, all Third-Order Emperor Realm Masters and above had to leave.
Yang Kai had never mentioned this to anyone before, but his Father was able to sense it, which could possibly be a kind of opportunity. If Yang Kai forced his Father to leave with him, he might actually harm his future.
Furthermore, since his Father could sense it, other Emperor Realm Masters might also be aware of this change.
At the thought of this, Yang Kai nodded, “Since you two have made a decision, I’ll not say anything else. Don’t worry. I’ll come back to see you whenever I’m free.”
Yang Ying Feng chided with a smile, “Work hard in the outside world as the future of the Star Boundary hinges on you. Don’t think about those unnecessary things. Your Mother and I are deeply in love, after all of you are gone, we’ll live a happy life together, so we don’t need you to come back and disturb us.”
Hearing that, Yang Kai felt embarrassed.
While they were speaking, two people dashed into the hall. They were none other than Yang Xue and Yang Xiao, who were known to be the Twins of Time.
“Big Brother!” Yang Xue called out in a clear voice as the hairpin in her hair glistened. It was one of the accessories Yang Kai purchased in the Universe Temple on his way here.
“Greetings, Grandpa, Grandma!” Yang Xiao appeared obedient. After saluting Yang Ying Feng and Dong Su Zhu, he called out respectfully, “Adoptive Father!”
Yang Kai nodded and patted the younger man’s shoulder, “You’ve done a great job over the years.” In the past, the World Principles of the Star Boundary were broken, and disasters would befall the people from time to time. Over the years, the Twins of Time had saved many people and resisted many calamities.
With a serious expression, Yang Xiao said, “It is a son’s duty to share his father’s burden.” Then, he darted his eyes around for a moment, “Father… is the Outer Universe fun?”
“Do you want to go?” Yang Kai looked smilingly at him.
Yang Xiao repeatedly nodded his head as his eyes seemed to be glowing, “Of course I want to!” When Yang Kai secretly left the Star Boundary in the past, he wanted to follow him, but he was captured by Yang Xue before he could. Then, he went on to wait for Yang Kai to return for a long time. Now that Yang Kai was back, and he intended to bring some people to the Outer Universe, Yang Xiao certainly wouldn’t miss this chance.
“Bring you to the Outer Universe?” Yang Kai stroked his own chin, “I can do that, but the Outer Universe is full of danger, so you need to prove to me that you’re able to protect yourself. Show me the result of your years of cultivation. If I think it’s good enough, you can come with me. If not, you’ll have to stay in the Star Boundary.”
Both shocked and surprised, Yang Xiao became enthusiastic and proclaimed, “Please observe and advise me, then!”
The Flowing Time Temple hovered in the sky while at its front steps stood Yang Xiao and Yang Xue with solemn expressions.
In the past, they had obtained the inheritance from Flowing Time Great Emperor, and went on to live and cultivate together for several centuries. Over the years, they had become so close they could read each other’s minds. Therefore, they would also fight against their enemies together.
Since Yang Kai wanted to test their abilities, they naturally had to join forces.
They had grown tremendously over the years as they now had the strength of Second-Order Emperors. If they activated the Flowing Time Temple together, most Third-Order Emperor Realm Masters wouldn’t be a match for them. Despite that, they still felt immensely pressured when facing Yang Kai.
Yang Kai was just standing there, and he didn’t seem to exude any aura. Yet, he was like an insurmountable mountain that had appeared in their way. Although they had looked up, they still couldn’t see its peak.
“Little Aunt, we have to give it our all.” Yang Xiao’s palms were drenched in sweat, but his eyes appeared fervent as though he was determined to turn the world upside down.
Yue Xue nodded and gently took a breath, her amber eyes seemingly glowing with light.
With his hands behind his back, Yang Kai stood a thousand metres away from them. Appearing to be calm and collected, he said with a smile, “I’ll not bully the two of you. Whatever you do, I’ll not activate the World Force of the Star Boundary. Furthermore, I’ll suppress my cultivation and make it equivalent to yours. If you can hit me within three moves, you’ll be considered the winner.”
Yang Xiao bellowed, “Father, stop looking down on us! Over these years, I haven’t wasted my time. I’m much stronger than I was in the past.”
“It’s pointless to boast. Make your move.” Yang Kai crooked a finger at him.
While Yang Xiao was gritting his teeth, Yang Xue yelled, “In that case, meet our first move!”
As soon as she finished speaking, they started performing a set of hand seals together. There wasn’t a discussion, nor did they exchange glances, yet their movements were identical, as though they were done by the same person.
Seeing that, Yang Kai nodded lightly. The two of them were able to read each other’s thoughts and intentions after cultivating together for so many years. Even twins couldn’t be so in sync, but the two of them could easily achieve this. It went to show that they had really cultivated hard.
Seeing the hand seals they were forming, Yang Kai broke into a laugh and commented, “Time Flies Seal? I can do that as well.”
Then, he formed a seal with both hands.
Time Flies Seal was the signature Divine Ability of Flowing Time Great Emperor that Yang Kai had learned a long time ago, which allowed him to gain a slight understanding of the Dao of Time. Then, he made use of his Small Sealed World to devour the continents in Demon Realm and found an ancient battlefield, where Flowing Time Great Emperor had once fought a life-and-death battle against Great Demon God.
Traces of the battle were left behind in that ancient battlefield. Yang Kai had been mesmerised by it as though he could see the fight between the Flowing Time Great Temple and Mo Sheng. That was how he mastered the Time Flies Seal; therefore, it was almost as if Flowing Time Great Emperor had personally taught him this Divine Ability.
Unlike Yang Kai, Yang Xiao and Yang Xue had obtained the Flowing Time Temple and the true inheritance of the Flowing Time Great Emperor, which they had cultivated diligently for many years, so it could be considered that they had been personally taught by the Flowing Time Great Emperor as well.
As Time Principles undulated, both parties used different hand seals and the energy around them surged. Despite the fact that Yang Kai began forming seals later, he was actually the first to activate the technique.
A rumbling sound spread across the place.
Time Flows on Infinitely, Like a Mighty Stream, Like an Unending Dream!
He pushed out his palm!
Yang Xiao and Yang Xue extended their palms at the same time from the Flowing Time Temple.
The Time Principles from both parties clashed in mid-air and fought against one another. Thousands of years seemed to have passed in the void at that moment.
Yang Kai arched his brow as he could feel a different kind of fluctuation coming from Flowing Time Temple. They were equally matched at first, but the situation was soon tipped. The Time Principles used by the duo solidified and suppressed Yang Kai’s Time Flies Seal.
“Is that one of the uses of the Flowing Time Temple?” Yang Kai was shocked.
The fluctuation coming from Flowing Time Temple seemed to have strengthened the Divine Ability of Yang Xiao and Yang Xue.
Yang Xiao guffawed, “Little Aunt and I have obtained the inheritance of our Honoured Teacher, and this temple was his residence; therefore, when we activate Time Principles in this temple, it will be strengthened. Father, are you surprised?”
As they spoke, Yang Kai’s Time Flies Seal was defeated while the Time Principles from the duo became more ferocious even though its power had been reduced.
Following that, Yang Xue bellowed, “The second move!”
As soon as she finished speaking, a petite hourglass suddenly appeared in front of her. Divine sand could be seen flowing out of the hourglass, exactly 10,008 grains in total.
This was the Flowing Time Divine Sand that Flowing Time Great Emperor had expended a great deal of resources and effort to refine.
The Flowing Time Divine Sand soared and streamed into the Time Flies Seal. As the two Divine Abilities blessed one another, they became horrendously powerful.
With a solemn expression, Yang Kai hurriedly retreated.
“Four seasons have passed, and you’re now extremely sleepy.” Yang Xiao gently waved his hand, whereupon an invisible power gushed out of his palm and mingled with the Flowing Time Divine Sand. Then, he looked smilingly at Yang Kai, “Father, you’re exhausted now. Have a rest.”
Three moves had been combined into one, which further enhanced its power.
Yang Kai’s vision seemed to have been filled by 10,008 grains of sand. Before the attack even reached him, a sense of exhaustion was rising within him. Even his eyelids had become leaden.
“A Soul Technique?” Yang Kai arched his brow and smacked his lips, “Interesting.”
If it were any other kind of Soul Attack, he wouldn’t have had any regard for it; however, this Soul Attack carried Time Principles with it, so while it might appear simple, it could make a person feel as if countless years had passed. If aeons seemed to pass by, one would feel lethargic. No one was able to resist this.
All of a sudden, Yang Kai stopped in his tracks and let the 10,008 grains of sand come at him. While Yang Xiao appeared elated, Yang Xue balled up her fists.
The sand was about to engulf Yang Kai, and when that happened, he would be defeated.
Just then, Yang Kai gently raised a finger and pointed forward. At that instant, he used Near Distant Horizon.
The smile on Yang Xiao’s face froze while Yang Xue was stunned. That was because they could sense that even though Yang Kai was just a couple thousand metres away from them, it also felt as if there were several thousand kilometres between them.
All 10,008 grains of sand also became frozen in mid-air. In truth, they were not frozen and were still moving forward, but so slowly it appeared as if they weren’t. It was apparent that there was only a short distance between them, but it was also as if they were as far apart as the Heavens and Earth. Following Yang Kai’s move, the distance between them seemed to have extended infinitely.
That was the power of Near Distant Horizon.
“We lost!” Yang Xiao said through clenched teeth.
Yang Xue gently sighed and broke her hand seal. As her Flowing Time Divine Sand had been restricted by Yang Kai’s Space Secret Technique, she couldn’t even retract it now.
Yang Kai smiled and waved his hand to disperse his Divine Ability, whereupon the 10,008 grains of sand returned to the hourglass. The two Divine Abilities contained in the sand were also shattered.
“Senior Flowing Time was indeed a rare genius. Given his heritage in the past, he could’ve broken free of this Universe World’s restrictions; however, in order to shatter Mo Sheng’s plot, he took the risk of sneaking into the Demon Realm to battle against him. Although he fell in the end, he managed to bring a glimmer of hope to the Star Boundary. It could be said that the reason the Star Boundary is still around is thanks to Senior Flowing Time. If not for him, this world would’ve become the second Demon Realm long ago.” Yang Kai sighed, “Although Senior Flowing Time lost his life, he still managed to leave behind his inheritance. Since you two have had the luck to obtain such an opportunity, you should also inherit his will. If the Star Boundary falls into danger in the future, you must do whatever you can to protect this world even if it costs your lives so as not to disappoint your Honoured Teacher.”
“Father, I’ll never forget what you’ve said today,” Yang Xiao spoke with a solemn face.
“Get ready and follow me to the Outer Universe in two months.” Upon finishing his words, Yang Kai disappeared.
Yang Xiao and Yang Xue traded glances. A moment later, Yang Xiao scratched his head, “Little Aunt, are my ears playing tricks on me? I think I heard Adoptive Father tell us to follow him to the Outer Universe.”
Yang Xue smiled with her lips pressed together, “Isn’t that what you want?”
Instantly, Yang Xiao’s gaze brightened as he placed his palms on his hips and guffawed, “I knew that he’d bring me with him. Outer Universe, here I come!”
He had always been an adventurous soul, so now that his dream had been realised, he was over the moon.
When Yang Kai returned to High Heaven Peak, the ladies had awakened. Ji Yao was standing there with a red face, and she seemed to be on pins and needles. Seeing Yang Kai, she shot him an aggrieved look.
At that instant, the other women also glared at him. Yu Ru Meng’s gaze seemed to suggest that she was ready to skin him alive, while Shan Qing Luo sneered and gritted her teeth.
Yang Kai scratched nose and meekly asked, “Have you all had a good rest?”
Ji Yao’s face was already red, and it became scorching when she heard his question. It was as if some steam was going to puff out of her head.
Yu Ru Meng replied in a weird tone, “What difference does it make whether we have taken a good rest?”
In response, Yang Kai smirked.
Walking over, Yu Ru Meng pinched his waist and said through clenched teeth, “Why are you smiling so foolishly? Since this has happened, you have to take full responsibility.”
An unfazed Yang Kai asked doubtfully, “What do you mean by that?”
An infuriated Yu Ru Meng pointed at Ji Yao, who had hung her head low, and demanded, “Aren’t you supposed to give her a confession?”
“Haven’t I already given it to her?” Yang Kai was speechless at that.
Yu Ru Meng bellowed, “Is this how you’re supposed to do it? What about Bing Yun? How are you going to explain it to her?”
“Well…” Yang Kai batted his eyes, thinking that it wasn’t necessary to explain anything to her; however, after giving it a thought, he realised it was proper etiquette to do so. After all, Bing Yun was Ji Yao’s Honoured Master, so it would be inappropriate if he didn’t at least inform her about their new relationship.
If he were to head to Ice Heart Valley and tell Bing Yun about it, he believed that she’d be happy; after all, she must have noticed something long ago, so she wouldn’t object to it. However, it’d be embarrassing for him to personally explain it to her.
Then, he looked pleadingly at Yu Ru Meng, who snorted and scolded, “Why didn’t you think it through earlier before you acted? Do you feel guilty now?”
She shot him a glare, “Good. I’ll head to Ice Heart Valley tomorrow and have a talk with Bing Yun.”
Then, she turned to look at Su Yan, “You come with me.”
Su Yan nodded, “En.”
Ji Yao was Bing Yun’s Third Disciple while Su Yan was Bing Yun’s youngest disciple, so they were technically Senior Sister and Junior Sister. It would be of great help if Su Yan could go over as well.
With this, Yang Kai felt relieved.