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Translator: Silavin & Jon
Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun
Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys
As time passed, Yang Kai consistently refined a set of Seventh-Order materials every half a year. With that said, he didn’t just cultivate in seclusion all the time.
Cultivating was a monotonous activity, and if one wasn’t composed enough, he would become jittery by remaining in such a state for an extended period of time.
Even though it wouldn’t happen to Yang Kai, he would still try to prevent it from occurring. Every time he finished refining a set of Seventh-Order materials, he would leave his room and take a stroll.
Sometimes, he would walk around for three to five days. When he felt like it, he would travel around for ten days to half a month. After winding down and moving his body, he would cultivate in seclusion again. As he had taken time to get some rest, his efficiency would greatly improve.
When he was free one day, he headed to the War Materials Hall and traded all his Fifth-Order and Sixth-Order materials for Military Merits, which he then exchanged for Seventh-Order Five-Element materials.
He had brought these Fifth-Order and Sixth-Order materials from the 3,000 Worlds for his own cultivation. Now, the best way for him to cultivate was to refine Seventh-Order materials, so these Fifth-Order and Sixth-Order materials were of no value to him. Seventh-Order materials were his best choice.
In fact, the conversion rate for exchanging Seventh-Order Five-Element materials in the Inner Sanctum was quite favourable.
For every two sets of Sixth-Order Five-Element materials, he would gain enough Military Merits to trade for a set of Seventh-Order ones. The conversion rate was just 2 to 1.
It had to be noted that in the 3,000 Worlds, the value of the materials in each Order went up 10 times per Order; however, it was only 2 times greater in Blue Sky Pass.
After all, the higher-ups had to take care of the soldiers who fought against the Black Ink Clan, so they couldn’t possibly measure the value of the materials in each Order according to the conversion rate in the 3,000 Worlds. Secondly, the consumption rate of Seventh-Order materials was extremely low, so as time passed, a lot of Seventh-Order materials had been accumulated in Blue Sky Pass. There were even ample reserves of Eighth-Order materials.
There were quite a number of High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters in the Inner Sanctum, and the number of Eighth-Order Division Commanders alone came up to several dozen. However, none of them would be as wasteful as Yang Kai, who refined Seventh-Order materials directly, when cultivating. The main reason was that High-Order Yin and Yang Element materials were still exceptionally rare. Without Seventh-Order and Eighth-Order Yin and Yang Element materials, they simply couldn’t refine materials to cultivate regardless of how many Five-Element materials they possessed, or else their Small Universes’ would become imbalanced.
As more and more Universe Worlds were strip-mined outside Blue Sky Pass, a lot of Seventh-Order and Eighth-Order materials had been found. Nevertheless, these materials would generally be used for Artifact Refining and arranging Spirit Arrays, not cultivation.
In this situation, Yang Kai was at an advantage.
The materials he possessed now were more than sufficient to help him ascend to the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm.
He also took some time to head to the Pill Hall to find out about the progress of creating Purifying Black Ink Pills. Nonetheless, he didn’t meet the two Alchemy Grandmasters, Zhu Ge Ming and Zhou Fang. He only saw Tang Qun.
According to Tang Qun, after Yang Kai left that day, the two Grandmasters started focusing on completing the Purifying Black Ink Pill recipe. Countless herbs had been consumed so far, but fortunately, they had made some progress.
However, they would still have to work harder in order to create Purifying Black Ink Pills. Those from the medicine garden had started nurturing more Obsidian Grass and Green Feather Rattan as well. Once the Purifying Black Ink Pill recipe was perfected, there would be enough ingredients to be used in their production.
One day, after Yang Kai finished refining a set of Seventh-Order materials, he left his room.
Feng Ying had been waiting for him and the moment she heard the door opening, she turned her head and flashed a smile at him, “You’re indeed disciplined when it comes to cultivating, Junior Brother.”
Over the past two years, Yang Kai would always stop cultivating after half a year. With that as a baseline, Feng Ying speculated that he might emerge sometime soon, which was why she decided to wait for him there.
“It’s boring to just sit and cultivate, so I need to relax and unwind from time to time.” Yang Kai stretched his back, “What’s wrong, Senior Sister?”
Feng Ying must have something to tell him by waiting for him here.
“Martial Uncle Zhong Liang said that you have to look for him as soon as you stop cultivating,” There was a solemn expression on Feng Ying’s face.
Yang Kai straightened his face, “Has something happened in the Inner Sanctum?”
Feng Ying shook her head, “Nothing major has happened in the Inner Sanctum. He revealed to me that it has something to do with the World Spring.”
Upon hearing that, Yang Kai realised what was going on.
After he refined the World Tree, he told the four Army Commanders of Blue Sky Pass that he was willing to give up the World Spring in his Small Universe; after all, he felt the World Tree’s clone was also able to protect his Small Universe even better than the World Spring. Although Yang Kai wasn’t able to verify this for the time being, he had a feeling that even without the World Spring, he still wouldn’t be affected by Black Ink Strength.
At that time, Zhong Liang and the others said that there was no rush to deal with this issue. Even though he was willing to give up the World Spring, they had to have a discussion about who would take it.
Yang Kai had never expected that it would take two years for a decision to be made. It seemed that the Army Commanders were quite cautious when it came to this matter.
“I’ll head over right now,” Yang Kai replied and shot into the sky as he headed straight to the Headquarters of the Western Army.
Upon his arrival, he told someone to inform Zhong Liang, and a moment later, he was shown inside.
After entering the hall, he saw Zhong Liang assigning some work to a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master. It wasn’t until Zhong Liang was done with his affairs and the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master left that Yang Kai took a step forward and cupped his fist, “Greetings, Sir.”
Zhong Liang nodded gently and rose from the chair, “I’m sure Feng Ying has told you why I’ve asked you to see me.”
Yang Kai nodded, “Yes, Senior Sister has informed me about it. Have all of you decided on who will take over the World Spring?”
Zhong Liang replied, “Yes, a decision has been made; however, this King has to remind you that since you’ve decided to give up the World Spring, you’ll have to sacrifice a small part of your Small Universe. Doing so will cause your Small Universe to be incomplete. It’s no big deal as you can repair it by consuming a Profound Yin Spirit Fruit; however, if you lose the ability to resist Black Ink Strength because of that, you have to stay here in the Inner Sanctum and must not go anywhere as you please.”
Yang Kai said obediently, “I understand.”
Zhong Liang looked at him with a gentle and approving gaze, “That’s thoughtful of you.”
Other than Yang Kai, no one knew what the benefits of the World Tree’s clone were at that time. Even if he wasn’t willing to give up the World Spring, no one would say anything; however, as soon as he refined the World Tree’s clone, he brought up this issue, which showed that he was not an ungrateful person. An Eighth-Order Master who possessed one of the Four Universe Pillars would be able to deal a greater blow to the enemy on the battlefield, for they would no longer have to worry about Black Ink Strength invading their body.
“Come with me,” Zhong Liang beckoned to him and shuffled out of the hall.
Yang Kai followed closely.
Soon, they stepped out of Blue Sky Pass and arrived in the void outside.
Someone was already standing there. It was apparent that he had been waiting since receiving a message from Zhong Liang.
Yang Kai was able to recognise the person at first glance and asked, “Sir Ding Yao is going to take over the World Spring?”
The person who had been waiting there was none other than the Army Commander of the Eastern Army, Ding Yao.
Zhong Liang nodded, “That’s right. Other than the Old Ancestors in the Inner Sanctum, this old fart is the strongest, so he’s the most suited to take over the World Spring.”
The corners of Yang Kai’s brow twitched. Zhong Liang could call Ding Yao an old fart, but he wouldn’t dare to be disrespectful.
In any case, he had already expected such an outcome.
Very few Four Universe Pillars had been found so far, and they were all in the hands of the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters.
Ninth-Order Old Ancestors didn’t need one of the Four Universe Pillars as they were strong enough that they didn’t have to worry about Black Ink Strength invading their bodies. On the other hand, a Seventh-Order Master might not be able to keep a World Spring safe. That was the reason Zhong Liang wasn’t willing to let Yang Kai outside for missions back then. Yang Kai was vital to the Human Race, but he wasn’t powerful enough at that time. If anything happened to him, Zhong Liang wouldn’t be able to explain himself to the Old Ancestor.
Ninth-Order Old Ancestors didn’t need the World Spring while Seventh-Order Masters weren’t strong enough to keep them safe or make use of them. It would be best for an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master to have it.
Yang Kai already speculated that one of the four Army Commanders would eventually take over the World Spring, and it seemed that his speculation was correct.
The moment Yang Kai got closer, Ding Yao gazed at him and said, “It’ll be useless to regret it once you go ahead with your decision. It’s still not too late for you to back out.”
Yang Kai replied with a smile, “Since a decision has been made, I’ll not go back on my word.”
Ding Yao nodded, “I won’t dissuade you, then.”
Zhong Liang said, “You can start now if you’re ready; however, you have to do your best to minimise the damage, Yang Kai.”
“I understand,” Yang Kai nodded and closed his eyes.
The instant he activated his Divine Sense, his World Force undulated around him as a buzzing sound was continuously heard in his Small Universe. Following his move, the originally complete Small Universe started trembling and the next moment, the ground started shaking violently.
Yang Kai widened his eyes and started growling like a beast.
The excruciating pain he was going through caused him to shudder uncontrollably.
Prior to this, he had no idea that it was so painful to give up a piece of his Small Universe. Before he brought the Purifying Light to the Black Ink Battlefield, the Human soldiers here had to give up parts of their Small Universes after they were contaminated with Black Ink Strength in order to survive. While bearing the excruciating pain, they also had to risk their lives to battle against the Black Ink Clansmen. It must have been a cruel experience.
It wasn’t hard to give up a part of his Small Universe as Yang Kai just had to cut it off. The most difficult part was that he had to suppress the World Spring’s aura to that particular territory.
Even though he had done his best, he still had to give up a considerable chunk of his Small Universe.
The moment the portal of his Small Universe opened, a Spirit Province that was more than 40,000 square metres appeared in the void, at the centre of which was a conspicuous spring.
As soon as this territory appeared, the void around the World Spring seemed to have frozen under the influence of its power.
That was the moment Ding Yao had been waiting for. He extended his hand to grab the territory. As he activated his World Force, the territory instantly disappeared into his body.
The next instant, Ding Yao sat down cross-legged to join Yang Kai.
Zhong Liang hurriedly presented to Yang Kai a Profound Yin Spirit Fruit he had prepared, “Quickly consume it now.”
Even though it wouldn’t matter to consume the fruit at a later time, he was worried that Yang Kai’s foundation would be damaged if they didn’t act quickly enough.
Presently, Yang Kai was in so much pain that his forehead was covered with cold sweat. He took the Profound Yin Spirit Fruit from Zhong Liang, but just as he was about to eat it, he frowned and became rooted to the spot.
Upon seeing that, Zhong Liang appeared anxious, “What happened? Is there anything wrong?”
Yang Kai shook his head. Instead of promptly replying to him, he focused on examining his Small Universe.
He could see that the originally complete Small Universe had been damaged after he sacrificed that piece of land.
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