Martial Peak
chapter-5499

How could Yang Kai have known what Wu Kuang had gone through all these years? He only thought that Wu Kuang had been hiding in the Shattered Heaven all this while, so he was extremely surprised when he heard all about Wu Kuang’s experience, “You went to the Barren Territory battlefield?”

Wu Kuang proudly declared, “This King has obtained outstanding military merits! I’m also famous in your Great Evolution Army.”

Seeing his smug look, Yang Kai found it funny and proposed, waving off, “Let’s talk later, come with me.”

Yang Kai had many things he wanted to ask Wu Kuang and he also needed Wu Kuang’s cooperation in a plan he had in mind, but he did not forget there were still many intact Universe Worlds waiting for him to refine.

Having said that, he reached out to grab Wu Kuang.

Wu Kuang hesitated a little, but chose to go along with him. Since the day he became famous, he had become the target of everyone’s hatred. He had long developed a lone-wolf persona, but if there was anyone in this world he was willing to believe, then it would probably be Yang Kai.

In the past, it was Yang Kai who secretly brought him to the Shattered Heaven; otherwise, he would have remained hidden in the New Great Territory all this time. After all, Myriad Demons Heaven’s Pei Wen Xuan had died at his hands.

Space Principles started fluctuating and Wu Kuang felt as if the entire world had flipped upside down. By the time he came to his senses, he found himself standing in an inexplicable place.

Yang Kai ordered, “You stay here and recuperate, I’ll talk to you later.”

Yang Kai turned around and vanished in the blink of an eye.

Wu Kuang didn’t find this strange at all. Yang Kai was proficient in the Dao of Space, and now that his cultivation was an Order higher than Wu Kuang’s, it was indeed difficult for Wu Kuang to catch his movements.

Wu Kuang started looking around and soon had his attention focused on a huge, towering tree in front of him. The tree seemed to be ailed by some kind of illness as it looked sickly and most of its fruits were even rotten.

Wu Kuang furrowed his brow as he kept staring at the tree. He vaguely found the towering tree a little familiar, as if he had seen it somewhere before. Oddly enough, he even got the feeling that there was some kind of bad blood between them!

In another place, Yang Kai once again arrived outside a completely intact Universe World, and this time, the refining process was quite smooth.

After refining that Universe World into a World Bead, Yang Kai returned to the Great Ancient Ruins Boundary and saw Wu Kuang sitting cross-legged in front of the World Tree, staring at it.

He didn’t pay the sight any heed and continued using the World Tree as a transit point to head towards the next Universe World.

After several more trips, he finally finished refining all of the still intact Universe Worlds.

When Yang Kai returned to the Great Ancient Ruins Boundary for the last time, he was beside himself in shock at the sight before him. The towering World Tree was nowhere to be seen, while Wu Kuang was hugging the lower half of a short, stubby old man. By the looks of it, he was pestering the old man, begging for something.

The dense and thick hair on the old man’s head looked like branches, and countless fruits were growing on them.

The old man’s lower body did not have any legs either and was instead something weird that looked like it was composed of countless roots.

Although Yang Kai had never seen this old man before, he could tell that he was the World Tree at a glance; after all, the branches on his head and the roots on his lower body were too obvious.

What surprised him was that the World Tree could actually transform into such an appearance, something he had never seen before.

The old man was also holding a walking stick in his hand and looked completely incensed as he beat Wu Kuang’s head with it. Wu Kuang appeared to be in quite a sorry state, bleeding from his head with red liquid pouring down his face.

Even so, Wu Kuang was still tightly holding onto the old man’s lower body, refusing to let go. Yang Kai could even sense him using the Heaven Devouring Battle Law.

Wu Kuang was pleasantly surprised after seeing Yang Kai appear, and shouted, “Yang Boy, this is the World Tree, quickly help me refine it!”

It had taken him a long time to recognize that this was the legendary World Tree, but once he had, how could Wu Kuang resist the temptation of such a precious treasure?

Over the past few years, he did not even let off Black Ink Strength, so Wu Kuang immediately expressed his desire to refine the World Tree with practical actions. If he really succeeded in refining it, he would definitely be able to reach the Heavens in a single bound.

At that time, not to mention Territory Lords, he would be able to devour even Royal Lords with ease.

Had he still been able to use his Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm cultivation, he wouldn’t be in such a sorry state, but this was the Great Ancient Ruins Boundary where no matter what one’s Order was, it was difficult for him or her to mobilize the World Force of their Small Universe. At most, one could only display the strength of the Emperor Realm.

A mere Emperor Realm Master couldn’t do anything against the World Tree.

The Old Tree kept bashing Wu Kuang’s head with the walking stick to the point that Wu Kuang had started to feel dizzy. Be that as it may, Wu Kuang held on, seemingly willing to die for his great cause.

The roots of the Old Tree’s lower body also kept lashing him like thousands of whips, tearing his skin and flesh.

While they were entangled with each other, Yang Kai walked over.

Old Tree immediately voiced his grievance, “Boy, why did you bring someone like him here!”

The Old Tree was not just angry, he was also exasperated and even a little frightened, for this was actually not the first time something like this had happened. He had faced a similar situation a very long time ago.

At that time, when that fellow named Shi saw him, he had also acted in such a manner, clamouring to refine him, making him panicked!

What’s more, at that time, the Secret Art Shi had used was exactly the same as the one in front of him was using.

The Old Tree immediately understood that the fellow in front of him was definitely connected to Shi somehow; otherwise, how could he come to possess the same Secret Art?

Yang Kai was also rendered speechless by the scene before him. He quickly stepped forward and grabbed Wu Kuang by the neck, lifting him up with a little force.

Having escaped from Wu Kuang, the Old Tree quickly hid far away and breathed a sigh of relief.

Wu Kuang, who was being held by Yang Kai, turned to the latter before stoically and indifferently stating, “This King is still your Senior, is this how you treat me? Put me down!”

Apparently, he was more ashamed of being held like this than anything else.

Yang Kai put him down and warned him in a distressed voice, “Stop messing around!”

Wu Kuang adjusted his clothes as if nothing had happened, but the bruises and bloodstains on his face made him look miserable still.

“Why aren’t you restricted by this place?” Wu Kuang asked curiously.

His cultivation had been suppressed to the Emperor Realm, but clearly, Yang Kai had not been suppressed and was still able to display the strength of the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm. Otherwise, it would have been impossible for him to pick him up like a chicken.

Yang Kai explained, “I have refined many Universe Worlds and obtained the Old Tree’s approval, so naturally I am not restricted here.”

Wu Kuang was absorbed in his thoughts after this revelation.

Yang Kai then looked at the Old Tree and asked, clicking his tongue in surprise, “You can even take Human Form?”

[Since you could assume Human Form, what was the point of shaking your trunk to communicate with me?]

The Old Tree replied, “This Old Master has lived for so long, it would be stranger if I was not able to transform like this. Anyways, why did you bring him here? Quickly take him away!”

Although Wu Kuang’s cultivation was locked at the Emperor Realm, the Old Tree didn’t feel safe with him.

Yang Kai agreed, “I’ll be leaving immediately, but before I leave, Old Tree, I have a presumptuous request.”

Old Tree looked at him vigilantly, “Tell me.”

Yang Kai bowed to him before stating, “The Black Ink Clan has invaded the 3,000 Worlds on a large scale. We Humans had no choice but to retreat to the Star Boundary. Many Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters sacrificed their lives on the Barren Territory battlefield in order to buy time for our younger generations. This Junior sincerely asks Old Tree to take pity on us and bestow upon us some of your clones to nurture our Human Race’s talents!”

Judging by the Old Tree’s expression, it appeared as if he had expected this request. As soon as Yang Kai spoke about a request, he had already guessed what it would be.

After pondering for a moment, he asked, “How many do you want?”

Yang Kai pondered about it for a moment. When he saw Wu Kuang secretly gesturing to him, he immediately stated, “Not much, 100 roots should be enough!”

Wu Kuang gasped, secretly shocked by Yang Kai’s unreasonable demand for he had clearly gestured for 10.

The Old Tree chuckled as a kind look appeared on his face, “Boy, you’re quite interesting, how can 100 roots be not much? Why don’t you just let him refine this Old Master instead?”

Wu Kuang immediately took a step forward, expressing that he was ready at any moment, it was just that the old man was not inviting him!

Yang Kai tentatively asked, “Then 90?”

Old Tree stated angrily, “Do you know that every time this Old Master cuts off one of his roots, it will severely damage my foundation? This Old Master’s body is related to the Universe Worlds of the entire 3,000 Worlds. If this Old Master’s foundation is greatly damaged, that damage is distributed back to the Universe Worlds, damaging all of them as well. Moreover, you don’t understand the secret behind the feedback of my clones at all. If you understood its intricacies, you wouldn’t have made such ridiculous demands.”

Yang Kai had really never thought about the feedback of the World Tree clone. He only knew that the World Tree clone was extremely beneficial to the living beings below the Open Heaven Realm, but he had never thought about the reason behind it.

After hearing the Old Tree say so much though, he realized that there was some great secret behind it.

He thus humbly requested, “Please enlighten me, Old Tree.”

The Old Tree looked at him deeply before answering, “The reason why this Old Master’s clones are able to nourish a Universe World is not because of its own abilities, but because all my clones are closely related to this Old Master. My clones draw energy from other Universe Worlds through this Old Master’s body to nourish that particular World. Still, this extraction will affect the development of all other Universe Worlds as well.”

Realization suddenly dawned upon Yang Kai, “Does Old Tree mean that the reason the Star Boundary is so prosperous now is that it extracts good fortune and energy from other Universe Worlds to nourish itself?”

Old Tree nodded his affirmation, “Exactly.”

This was the first time Yang Kai had heard of such a thing, but since it was mentioned by the World Tree himself, it was obviously not a lie. And after he gave it another thought, Yang Kai found this answer quite reasonable.

“If that’s the case, doesn’t it mean that having more clones isn’t the better choice?” Yang Kai immediately realized that the benefits of these clones did not lie in themselves. The nourishment provided by these clones did not actually come from them, but rather was the energy extracted from other Universe Worlds. This extraction could not be without limitations under the premise that it did not damage the development of other Universe Worlds.

If there was only one clone, this kind of feedback would be extremely powerful, but if there were two clones, the feedback energy would also be divided into two. The more of them there were, the less the feedback there would be; after all, the total number of Universe Worlds in 3,000 worlds was fixed.

No wonder Old Tree had said that if he understood the mysteries behind it, he wouldn’t have made such a ridiculous request.

If the benefits of the clones were because of the energy extracted from the other Universe Worlds, then having too many clones would be useless.

Yang Kai suddenly thought of something and asked, “What about the clone in a cultivator’s Small Universe?”

The Old Tree replied, “Naturally, the same is true for it too. Your Small Universe also has one of my clones. Previously, it was difficult for you to detect it, but now that you’ve refined so many Universe Worlds, if you calmly sense it, you’ll definitely be able to see through it.”