In the palace, Wu Che held a small jar of sticky healing salve in his hands. He remained silent for a long while before finally raising his head and asking, "Did you two refine these?"
Before him, the grey-haired elder and the white-haired elder exchanged a glance. The former replied, "Strictly speaking, it was refined under Master Niu's guidance."
Wu Che asked, "Have you learned how?"
Both elders nodded. The white-haired elder said with a touch of shame, "He… didn't hold anything back. He was more than willing to teach us how to prepare these healing medicines, so we learned quickly."
"Good." Wu Che allowed a faint smile to cross his face, then continued, "So what do you think of Shaman Niu?"
The grey-haired elder said, "He has a magnanimous heart!"
The white-haired elder said, "He is an open-minded man!"
Wu Che said, "I'm asking about his abilities."
The two elders fell silent for a moment, then spoke in unison: "Unmatched."
Wu Che's eyes suddenly blazed with a sharp light, like a starving beast that had just spotted its prey. He said calmly, "Such an exceptional alchemist — it would be a terrible waste if the Southern Barbarian tribes failed to put him to proper use." After a brief pause, he turned and issued an order to the side, "Yu, treat him well. Satisfy all his demands by every means possible, but… do not let him leave the palace."
Yu's heart trembled. Understanding Wu Che's intentions, she said with a complex expression, "Yes!"
The white-haired elder and the grey-haired elder exchanged another glance and both sighed softly. They wanted to say something more, but when they looked up, Wu Che had already vanished without a trace.
Elsewhere in the royal palace, in a chamber that counted as opulent by the standards of this primordial world, Yang Kai sat cross-legged, his spiritual energy surging as he savored this power he had regained. His heart brimmed with elation.
Just as the village chief had said — once his cultivation reached the Shaman realm, he had truly obtained his own spiritual sense. And the moment he possessed spiritual sense, all the restrictions that had bound his progress shattered apart.
The Space Ring could be opened once more. Numerous Artifacts could be summoned. In that instant, Yang Kai felt the vast world lay before him, and he could venture anywhere.
He immediately turned his attention to the Minor World.
The Mystic World Pearl had devoured so many fragmented laws within the fourth layer of the Five-Colored Pagoda. Yang Kai had also deliberately collected the power of the five elemental laws. By his reasoning, when the five elements were complete, a world would be born — yet he had never had the chance to examine the changes within the Mystic World Pearl. Until now.
His spiritual form slipped into the Minor World, and Yang Kai immediately sensed that this world was vastly different from before. Although there were no obvious changes on the surface, the Mystic World Pearl had followed him for years, and not the slightest alteration could escape his perception.
If the Minor World had previously been an incomplete world, then it had now been fully restored.
Yang Kai could clearly feel that this world was suffused with all manner of wondrous laws, rooted in the five elemental laws that gave rise to one another and counterbalanced one another. Their interplay gave birth to all things and gathered together the three thousand Great Daos of heaven and earth.
This was a true world — a world without any flaws!
In the past, the Minor World's laws had been incomplete. If one's strength exceeded a certain threshold, it was impossible to make a major breakthrough within it, because one could not resonate with the laws of heaven and earth, nor attract the gathering of celestial energy for tempering.
But now, that situation no longer existed.
Even someone advancing to the Emperor Realm within it would face no obstruction whatsoever.
Yang Kai was overjoyed. He lingered within the Minor World, carefully exploring and savoring the joy that this reborn world was transmitting to him. And the perfection of the Minor World seemed to have made his herb garden even more vibrant and full of life. The many exotic flowers and rare grasses planted there swayed with renewed vigor. At their center, the Ageless Tree radiated astonishing vitality, driving countless medicinal herbs into flourishing growth.
What delighted Yang Kai most was that he sensed a hazy will within the Minor World.
It was the will of the world — like a newly formed infant, dazed and not yet fully conscious. But Yang Kai knew that given enough time, it would grow into full maturity.
And when that time came, it would be his chance to use it to comprehend the great power of heaven and earth and break through the shackles of the Great Emperor realm.
This was precisely why Yang Kai had gone to such great lengths to mend the Minor World. Now it seemed this step had been the right one.
He did not rush to leave the Minor World. Instead, he immersed his consciousness within it, transforming his mind into an invisible force that spread outward. Like a parent, he sought to communicate with the Minor World's nascent, dazed will.
Failure after failure, rejection after rejection — Yang Kai tried again and again.
He did not know how much time had passed before he felt the world's will weaken its resistance by a fraction, a sign that it was gradually beginning to accept him. Just as Yang Kai was preparing to press his advantage and win it over, his vision suddenly went dark. His entire spiritual form collapsed, and in the next instant he returned to his physical body.
Opening his eyes again, a wave of dizziness washed over him. Sitting cross-legged on the bed, Yang Kai toppled forward and crashed to the floor with a heavy thud.
His head throbbed with splitting pain. Yang Kai's face darkened, knowing this was the result of excessive depletion of his spiritual power.
Though he now possessed the realm of a Shaman and had unlocked his spiritual sense, it was still far removed from his peak. To project his spiritual form in such an unrestrained manner placed an enormous burden on his body.