Martial Peak
chapter-3829

Chapter 3829, Fifty Years

Inside his cultivation room, Yang Kai slowly awoke from his meditation. His eyes were shining brightly as several dozen years’ worth of dry and boring cultivation had passed as though it was only a single day. He did not change much during this time, both in terms of appearance or temperament. He was no different from fifty years ago; however, the power contained in his body had undergone earth-shaking changes.

The essence of the Immortal Tree had all been condensed into his Dao Seal and when he looked inside at himself, his Dao Seal was now covered in a layer of green light and was overflowing with vitality and energy. The Wood Element was so dense, strong, and pure that it was an extremely rare sight in the world. Even if he had never met anybody else who refined the Wood Element, Yang Kai knew that his current situation was not something other people could possibly compare with.

Zhang Ruo Xi was right, the Immortal Tree was certainly among the best choices for refining the power of Wood. It was impossible for a better choice than this to exist across the 3,000 Worlds.

This time around, the condensation process left him with the illusion that he managed to achieve his goal in the shortest time possible. Unfortunately, there were some disadvantages to this as well.

Yang Kai had already noticed previously that the power of the Immortal Tree was not infinite and could not actually make him immortal and indestructible. Refining the Immortal Tree would allow him to be reborn after having his body shattered into pieces completely a few times at most before its power was exhausted. Even so, these opportunities should not be underestimated. Even in the world of the Outer Universe, precious treasures that could bring people back from the brink of death were extremely rare. They practically only existed in legends, which only served to highlight just how powerful the Immortal Tree was.

Unfortunately, even the opportunity to be reborn after having his body shattered into pieces completely no longer existed anymore. That was because all the essence of the Immortal Tree had been refined into his Dao Seal. It was no longer contained within his flesh and bones. In other words, he would die if he was smashed to bits again by a Master on the same level as the Great Demon God before.

Therefore, the change brought both disadvantages and advantages.

At the very least, Yang Kai did not have to worry about being seen through at a glance. He immediately recovered after having his head bashed in by the Great Demon God previously, and just from that, the Great Demon God could tell with a single glance that he had refined the Immortal Tree. As a result, the Great Demon God had continuously torn off chunks of his flesh and consumed it during the battle in an effort to prevent his own injuries from worsening.

In the future, Yang Kai would not expose himself anymore if he were injured. It would also save him from the fate of having people covet his treasures. He might be practically invincible in the Star Boundary as Void Great Emperor, but there were Open Heaven Realm Masters in the Outer Universe. It was only natural that he understood the meaning behind the saying ‘an ordinary man might be innocent, but the treasures he carried made him guilty’. If he accidentally exposed the fact that he had refined the Immortal Tree, he might end up being treated as a Human shaped treasure to be refined.

Although he lost the opportunity to be reborn after having his body shattered into pieces completely upon condensing the essence of the Immortal Tree into his Dao Seal, his restorative abilities had been greatly enhanced instead. Combined with the restorative abilities of his Dragon Body, ordinary injuries would not bother him anymore.

His current cultivation Realm was a little awkward. It could be considered to be above the Emperor Realm but not yet in the Open Heaven Realm. He was only on the path to advancing into the Open Heaven Realm and did not know how to define a cultivator at this level. Zhang Ruo Xi had not mentioned anything either, so it might be that there was no fixed definition for this stage in the Outer Universe.

Be that as it may, Zhang Ruo Xi once mentioned that anybody who had gathered any five out of the seven Yin, Yang, and Five Elements could be considered a Half-Step Open Heaven Realm Master. They had to refine two more Elements to split Heaven and Earth apart, but nevertheless, the power that they could exert was by no means comparable to somebody like Yang Kai who had only refined a single Element.

In any case, calling it a Realm was simply just a title. The true foundation of a cultivator lay in how much power they could actually bring out.

Looking back at it now, Flowing Time Great Emperor had most likely glimpsed the path to advancing into the Open Heaven Realm. Perhaps, he might even have already refined one or two Elements in his body. How else could he have entered the Demon Realm alone? How else could he have fought the injured Great Demon God to the death?

Even Wu Kuang would be slightly inferior at his peak. He might have vaguely felt the fetters of the Open Heaven Realm, but he had failed to actually step onto that path. It wasn’t to say that he was inferior to Flowing Time Great Emperor; it might be due to opportunity or some other reason, but Wu Kuang had yet to achieve what Flowing Time had already managed to.

Still, Yang Kai only recalled a thing or two about the past of his Seniors. There was no need to delve so far into it as focusing on himself was more important.

He gave a wave of his hand and the heavy gates opened with a loud rumble. Bright light shone into this secret room that had been shrouded in darkness for several dozen years as he stepped outside.

Sweeping his Divine Senses out, everything in the Star Boundary imprinted itself in his heart, causing him to frown slightly. He initially thought that some changes would have occurred in the Star Boundary after fifty years. So many living creatures had been transferred out of the Lower Star Fields when the war ended after all. Not to mention, various Masters in the Star Boundary even went so far as to join hands to create a suitable living environment for these people.

To his disappointment, however, it would seem that the Star Boundary was not showing any signs of improvement. Rather, it even seemed to be in slightly worse condition than before he entered retreat.

The huge cracks in the sky looked like beasts with their mouths opened wide, just waiting to devour somebody of their choice. Terrifyingly powerful turbulence would also leak out from those cracks from time to time, causing massive damage to the surrounding environment in the Star Boundary. Although the World’s vitality remained, it was not strong. The Star Boundary was still dying, little by little.

Yang Kai let out a soft sigh. His resolve solidified and he became even more determined to leave. Only death would await them here if he did not go out in search of a solution to this predicament.

A figure flashed by at that moment and Yu Ru Meng suddenly appeared in front of him, calling out gently, “Husband!”

Yang Kai smiled, reached out, and pulled her into his arms to hold her gently. He took in the sweet scent lingering in her hair, feeling his depressed feelings dissipating away, leaving behind a warm sense of peace. Likewise, she did not say anything, she simply leaned against him quietly and enjoyed the moment of tenderness.

“Where are the others?” He asked.

“All of them are in retreat.”

“You’ve worked hard.” Everybody else could enter retreat, except Yu Ru Meng. She was the only one who could not seclude herself because she was the only top Master left in the Star Boundary who was uninjured; thus, it was necessary for her to remain alert to the invasion of foreign enemies and monitor the changes in the Star Boundary at all times.

“Are you leaving now?” Her voice shook slightly.

Yang Kai nodded silently in response. He had informed his wives of his decision prior to entering retreat, so she was not surprised.

“Please take care of yourself out there, husband. Perhaps, we sisters will also head out to the Outer Universe to find you in the near future. If you wish to keep a secret mistress on the side, you had better hide your tracks well, otherwise, this Queen will deep-fry all those lovely young ladies if I find out about them!”

Yang Kai reached out and pinched her cheeks, “With you all beside me, how could I be tempted by those ordinary women outside?”

“You never know.” She pouted and wrapped her arms around his waist. Tightening her embrace, she reluctantly said, “Aren’t you going to say goodbye to them?”

Yang Kai just shook his head and declared, “I’ll be back.”

Every time they parted was an extremely sad and painful occasion, and Yang Kai was afraid that he would be reluctant to leave if he saw them.

“You are so cruel!” Yu Ru Meng lifted a finger and poked him in the chest. A short while later, she floated backwards and smilingly said, “Go. Don’t look back. I will cry if you look back.”

Yang Kai scratched his nose and quickly said, “Take care of yourself. Wait for me to come back.”

After saying that, he turned and strode into the sky. It only took a few steps before he became a small black spot in the distance.

In the next instant, a pair of eyes opened at each place where the Great Emperors were currently in retreat all over the Star Boundary. They looked up in the direction of the sky and cupped their fists in unison.

Yang Xiao was lying around in boredom on the steps in front of the Flowing Time Temple, basking in the sun in High Heaven Palace when he suddenly saw something. Sitting up straight, he rubbed his eyes vigorously and immediately became overjoyed. He was just about to fly out when a voice came out of nowhere at that moment, “Freeze!”

His body instantly froze in place. Turning his head with great difficulty, he saw Yang Xue standing not far behind him. Yang Xue had formed a seal with her hands and a mysterious force was emanating from her body.

“Little Aunt, why are you trapping me?” He blinked with an innocent expression on his face.

In response, Yang Xue smiled sweetly and asked, “Where were you planning to go?”

“I was bored, so I thought I’d go out for a walk,” he replied without even needing to think about his answer.

“Is that so?” She raised her head and looked into the sky. A look of understanding flashed in her eyes, “Why do I feel like you were going to chase after my Big Brother instead?”

“Adoptive Father?” He looked left and right before asking with a blank expression, “Where is Adoptive Father? Isn’t he in retreat? Could it be that he came out of seclusion?”

“Enough nonsense!” She coldly snorted, “You’ve kept coming here to laze about over the past ten or so years. I knew you were up to something! So this is what you were planning? I advise you to give up on this as soon as possible.”

Yang Xiao acted even more innocent than before, “Little Aunt, why can’t I understand what you are saying?”

She smiled, “Do you really not understand? It looks like I’ve been too indulgent towards you. Maybe you’ll understand if somebody else talks to you instead.”

Liu Yan suddenly appeared from behind her. The crystal-like little girl had a head of fiery-red hair and a cluster of flames burned at her fingertips, turning into a small Phoenix from time to time.

Yang Xiao turned pale at the sight of the little girl, and when he saw Liu Yan walking towards him, he swallowed nervously, “Great Aunt, let’s talk this out, okay? Violence is never the answer…”

“Were you trying to go after Master?” Liu Yan walked up to Yang Xiao and looked at him with big clear eyes.

“No…” The small phoenix immediately flew in front of him, giving out a scorching aura that could even burn a person’s Soul, so he hurriedly changed what he was saying, “Yes, yes, yes! I was going to go after Adoptive Father! I wanted to see what the Outer Universe is like! What’s wrong with that!? Why do you have to do this to me!?”

“I want to go too,” Liu Yan declared.

Yang Xiao immediately changed face, as though he had found an accomplice as even his eyes began to shine, “Great Aunt, in that case, we might as well go together! Adoptive Father just left, so he should not have gone very far. We can still catch up to him.”

“We can’t go!” She shook her head. Her movements slow and deliberate.

“Why!?” He glared at her.

“We will only hold him back!”

Yang Xiao sneered, “Great Aunt, you are overthinking this. You and I are not weak, so why would we drag Adoptive Father down? I will just tag along with him without asking for anything. I can at least serve him tea and run some errands for him, right? Hah… Adoptive Father must be having a hard time. He is going on a trip all by himself without a single person to talk to relieve his boredom. It’s one thing if I didn’t know about it, but now that I do, how can I turn a blind eye to his circumstances as his Adoptive Son!? I’m going to follow him. I’m going to support him!”

He spoke with great conviction and righteousness, indicating his sincerity and filial piety that overflowed beyond words.