Hearing Ye Xiyun's words, Chang Qi and the others all froze, their expressions going blank.
He wasn't dead... which meant the breakthrough had succeeded!
Chang Qi and the others could hardly believe their ears, but since it was Ye Xiyun who had spoken, her words carried absolute authority, and no one would dare question them. One by one, their faces lit up with a mixture of shock and delight as they turned to gaze toward Tianyi Palace.
And just as Ye Xiyun's voice trailed off, the spiritual energy between heaven and earth above Tianyi Palace shifted once more. The energy gathered rapidly, then coalesced into a colossal palm.
It blotted out the sky and the earth. From within the palm seemed to emanate a wondrous power, enough to snuff out the light before everyone's eyes.
The palm clenched tightly, seizing the several remaining strands of Five-Colored Spiritual Energy that had slipped through, then slowly withdrew. It flashed into Tianyi Palace and vanished without a trace.
Seeing this, Ye Xiyun was utterly astonished, the smile at the corners of her lips deepening by several degrees as she murmured, "This kid..."
He actually refused to let even those last few strands of Five-Colored Spiritual Energy go to waste. Those strands hadn't entered his body, yet he had reached out and grabbed them back of his own accord. Having the leisure to do something like that meant everything on his end was proceeding smoothly. Ye Xiyun couldn't help but chuckle in speechless amusement.
"All right, all right, everyone disperse. There's no need to worry about Yang Kai anymore." It was only at this point that Yang Yan finally let out a long breath, raising his voice to call out to the crowd.
"Yes!" Chang Qi and the others responded respectfully and quickly departed.
"Grand Elder, he's just broken through and will need some time to stabilize his realm. I'll trouble you to keep watch over this place." Yang Yan gave Ye Xiyun one further instruction.
"Yes, My Lord!" Ye Xiyun dipped her head slightly, ever obedient to Yang Yan's commands.
Glancing at Tianyi Palace, a smile playing at the corners of his lips, Yang Yan's figure flickered and he vanished from where he stood. With the Imperial Garden opening on the horizon and Yang Kai unable to extricate himself, every matter — great or small — at the Lingxiao Sect fell to him to handle. Fortunately, he had Wuyi and Qianyue to assist, so it was not overly burdensome.
Inside Tianyi Palace, Yang Kai was in tatters. His robes were shredded and ruined, stained all over with the dried residue of pale golden blood. His hair hung in a wild, tangled mess, making him look utterly wretched — as though he had just survived a life-or-death battle.
Yet his expression was one of pure satisfaction, his face radiating contentment.
He hadn't expected this breakthrough to go so smoothly.
The day he had obtained the Dayan Divine Sand and completed the set of Five Elements Supreme Treasures, Yang Kai had begun cultivating the Indestructible Five Elements Sword. He hadn't harbored any great expectations — his original intention had simply been to familiarize himself with the technique.
But once he started, he found he couldn't stop.
In nearly five months, he had already cultivated the Indestructible Five Elements Sword to the first layer. Not only had his physical body's resilience increased dramatically, but his Sacred Yuan and Divine Sense had also been strengthened. Compared to before he began, his overall strength had improved by at least ten to twenty percent!
And it was precisely this ten to twenty percent boost that had pushed him to the threshold of the Void Returning Stage. He had touched the bottleneck at the apex of the Sacred King Realm.
He then paused his cultivation of the Indestructible Five Elements Sword and began to devour and absorb the spiritual soul energy from the spirit souls lingering in his Sea of Consciousness.
The battle at Dragon Cave Mountain had claimed the lives of numerous Void Returning Stage powerhouses. The vast majority of those Void Returning Stage cultivators' spiritual souls had been drawn into Yang Kai's Sea of Consciousness and purified by the World-Destroying Golden Light, but he had never gotten around to dealing with them.
After devouring and absorbing the spiritual soul energy of these cultivators — and gaining their comprehension of the Heavenly Dao and Martial Dao — the breakthrough came as naturally as water finding its level.
But this breakthrough was somewhat different from his previous ones. Never before had there been a scene of Five-Colored Spiritual Energy gathering like this. Yang Kai didn't know exactly why, but he vaguely guessed it had something to do with his cultivation of the Indestructible Five Elements Sword.
All in all, this breakthrough had been a fortunate convergence of circumstances, as natural as water flowing downhill. It was nothing like what he had planned. Earlier, Yang Kai had gone into seclusion specifically to advance, had worked toward this breakthrough with deliberate effort, and had even prepared a Void Condensing Pill bearing pill veining.
But man proposes and Heaven disposes. None of those preparations had been needed.
That was a good thing, naturally leaving Yang Kai overjoyed.
The Indestructible Five Elements Sword had now been cultivated to the first layer, but the legendary state of physical immortality and indestructibility remained impossibly distant. This technique comprised nine layers, each one more difficult than the last. Reaching the absolute pinnacle would require who knew how much time and how many Five Elements Supreme Treasures!
After reaching the first layer, Yang Kai had specifically examined the Five Elements Supreme Treasures in his possession. The highest-grade Solar True Essence appeared largely unchanged, but the rest were far less satisfactory.
The Profound Metal's origin power had diminished greatly, as had the Thunder Wood. The Yin Kui Water had decreased by three drops, and the Dayan Divine Sand by more than twenty grains...
The price had not been small, but it didn't matter. The remaining materials would be sufficient to support his cultivation to the second or even third layer — especially the Solar True Essence, which would likely last a very, very long time.
With ample time as a buffer, he could seek out other Five Elements substitutes.
There was no rush on that front.
With these thoughts in mind, Yang Kai extended one hand. With a flicker of will, a Five-Colored sphere of light suddenly appeared in his palm.
The sphere was about the size of an egg, comprised of five layers — gold, azure, white, crimson, and yellow — each gleaming in harmony, breathtakingly beautiful.