Purple Dragon simply couldn't stand Yang Kai's smug, self-satisfied face anymore. He decisively shut his eyes, refusing to watch the scenes unfolding a hundred zhang away that were fraying his nerves.
But... Yang Kai showed no intention of stopping.
His voice continued to stream into Purple Dragon's ears without pause: "Hey, why isn't this Enlightenment Flower as big as the first one? These petals look awfully shabby—each one crooked and scrawny like it's malnourished. The medicinal potency's probably terrible. Well, whatever, I'll pack it up anyway. Better than nothing."
Purple Dragon's body trembled slightly, his Sacred Yuan nearly going berserk.
On the other side, Xu Wei's forehead was also crisscrossed with bulging veins—he was clearly furious beyond measure thanks to Yang Kai.
But unlike Purple Dragon, he hadn't closed his eyes. Instead, he stared intently at Yang Kai's movements, praying that after gorging on the meat, the kid might leave behind some scraps of soup for him to lap up.
But after watching for a moment, he realized something was wrong.
This kid was far too ruthless. When harvesting the Enlightenment Flowers, he pulled them out root and all, leaving absolutely nothing behind.
Xu Wei sighed deeply in his heart, knowing that these five Enlightenment Flowers almost certainly weren't going to have his share. He sucked in a deep breath, then followed Purple Dragon's example and shut his eyes—out of sight, out of mind.
"Whoa!" Yang Kai let out a shout, as if he'd discovered a new continent, his voice brimming with wonder and excitement.
Xu Wei, who had just closed his eyes, hastily cracked them open and stared wide-eyed toward Yang Kai's position, desperate to see what was going on.
Even Purple Dragon couldn't resist this time, narrowing his eyes to peer ahead...
Turns out nothing was actually happening on Yang Kai's end at all. The kid just grinned slyly, tucking the third Enlightenment Flower into a jade box while continuing to mutter to himself: "Close one, close one. I grabbed the wrong box—nearly wasted the medicinal potency."
Xu Wei opened his mouth, seemingly about to say something, but in the end swallowed his words. He merely turned his face cold and averted his gaze to the side.
Next came the fourth flower, then the fifth...
Yang Kai carried on like some wide-eyed country bumpkin who'd never seen anything of the world. Every time he harvested a flower, he made a loud fuss, critiquing the Enlightenment Flower up and down, rambling on and on. And with each stream of his chatter, Xu Wei and Purple Dragon's moods rose and fell like a yo-yo.
Those words were like a stick, repeatedly prodding right into their hearts... indescribably agonizing.
By the time Yang Kai had harvested all five Enlightenment Flowers and safely stored them away, Xu Wei and Purple Dragon couldn't help but let out quiet sighs of relief, feeling an inexplicable sense of liberation—as though a great weight had finally been lifted from their shoulders.
In that moment, it seemed as if heaven and earth had grown considerably brighter.
"Good harvest!" Yang Kai patted his spatial ring, beaming from ear to ear.
Xu Wei let out a cold, sinister laugh. "Let's see if you can actually take them with you."
Even though he knew Yang Kai was proficient in the power of space—even capable of teleporting a hundred zhang in an instant—Yang Kai was still merely a Return Void Realm warrior. Both he and Purple Dragon were at the Void King Realm; the gap in their strength was enormous. He would not allow Yang Kai to leave easily, and he was certain Purple Dragon wouldn't either.
The moment the Seven Luminaries Precious Light dissipated would be when he and Purple Dragon made their move against Yang Kai.
Only then would it be truly determined who the Enlightenment Flowers belonged to.
As for now... this kid was merely serving as their temporary keeper. That didn't count as actual ownership.
"Whether I can take them or not—just wait and see," Yang Kai replied coolly, showing not the slightest worry about the imminent crisis. Then he raised one hand to his brow, shielding his eyes as he gazed out into the distance. His gaze swept across the surroundings before locking onto a certain direction, and he called out loudly: "Hm? These few Heart-Questioning Orchids are pretty nice too. Can't let those go to waste."
No one knew what was going on with this stretch of land. Not only were spatial rifts incredibly numerous here, but they had also given rise to more than just the Enlightenment Flower as a natural treasure.
When the three sides had been in a standoff earlier, everyone had already noticed this—aside from the Enlightenment Flowers, the area also had several stalks of Heart-Questioning Orchid and a single Heaven Infant Grass.
Heart-Questioning Orchids could be used to temper a warrior's mental state cultivation, making them exceedingly rare finds. The Heaven Infant Grass was a primary ingredient for refining the Void King Pill—a spirit medicine that could increase the chances of a successful breakthrough when advancing through the Return Void Realm. Its value was equally staggering.
However, among these three types of natural treasures, the Enlightenment Flower was undoubtedly the most valuable. That was why everyone's attention had been focused solely on them earlier, with little regard for the Heart-Questioning Orchids or the Heaven Infant Grass.
Now that the Enlightenment Flowers were already in Yang Kai's possession, it was only natural for him to shift his targets.
Fortunately, those several stalks of Heart-Questioning Orchid, just like the Enlightenment Flowers, were growing behind a spatial rift and had not been covered by the Seven Luminaries Precious Light. The sole Heaven Infant Grass, on the other hand, was tightly shrouded within the light's embrace.
So the moment he heard Yang Kai say this, Xu Wei's heart sank.
It's over! The Heart-Questioning Orchids wouldn't escape this kid's clutches either! Xu Wei's face turned grim.
And indeed, that was exactly what happened. Right after speaking, Yang Kai channeled his spatial power and appeared directly at the spot where the Heart-Questioning Orchids were growing.
Just as he had done before when heading toward the Enlightenment Flowers, he broke through the spatial barrier and instantly teleported dozens of zhang away.