Third-grade materials were worth a small fortune, and Yang Kai naturally had no intention of letting the opportunity slip by.
"Absolutely not!" Old Fang's face drained of color. He realized that this kid Yang Kai really was the type to be brave out of sheer ignorance—daring to say anything, daring to think anything. He turned his head to check both sides, confirmed that no one was around, and lowered his voice. "Don't even think about it, brother. You've got a great moneymaking path open to you right now. Don't throw away your future over this kind of petty gain. This is Seven Skills Land's property. As long as it doesn't get exposed, nothing comes of it—but if it does…" He drew a finger across his own throat.
There was logic in those words. Right now, trapped inside Seven Skills Land, even if he somehow managed to take that Chixiao True Flame, there'd be nowhere to sell it. A third-grade material wasn't something Yang Kai could use either—he couldn't absorb it himself.
Weighing the potential gains against the risks, Yang Kai abandoned the thought and nodded. "Then should I report this right away?"
"Go, go—what are you waiting for? If Steward Zhou hears about this, he'll come investigate immediately." Old Fang urged him on. Having uncovered the root of the problem, a great weight lifted from his heart.
Yang Kai followed his advice and set off at once to find Zhou Zheng at the center of the orchard.
If he'd had any choice in the matter, he wouldn't have wanted to hand this to Zhou Zheng on a silver platter. The man had just pocketed over a hundred Open Heaven Pills from him and Old Fang, and then turned a blind eye when they needed help—truly a shameless opportunist. But as a chore servant, he couldn't leave the orchard without permission, let alone go report to someone else. Zhou Zheng it had to be.
After Yang Kai left, a question suddenly occurred to Old Fang: why had none of the previous occupants detected the problem, yet Yang Kai spotted it right away? And why had the Chixiao True Flame not reacted when he channeled wood-element power, but went wild the moment Yang Kai did the same?
He couldn't figure it out.
Before long, two figures arrived in rapid succession, landing nearby—it was Zhou Zheng and Yang Kai.
Old Fang stepped forward and bowed. Zhou Zheng asked suspiciously, "Yang Kai reported traces of Chixiao True Flame's aura leaking from this location. Is that accurate?"
"Accurate, absolutely accurate! This old man would never misidentify it. That is unmistakably the aura of Chixiao True Flame. If the Steward doesn't believe me, you can have Yang Kai demonstrate it."
Zhou Zheng turned to look at Yang Kai. Yang Kai walked silently up to the fruit tree, placed his hand over it, and channeled wood-element power.
The next instant, Zhou Zheng's eyebrows shot up and a look of delight spread across his face. "It really is Chixiao True Flame."
He hadn't even needed to approach the tree to sense it. As expected of the Open Heaven Realm—even a first-grade opener had his own unique advantages.
After a moment's contemplation, realization dawned on his expression. "So that's how it is…" He raised his head and ordered, "You two stand guard here. I'll be right back."
With those words, he shot into the sky.
Old Fang watched him depart, then turned to Yang Kai with a grin. "Congratulations, brother!"
Yang Kai was less than enthusiastic. "What is there to congratulate? This Chixiao True Flame isn't going to be ours."
"Don't say that. While it's true the third-grade material isn't for us, the fact that Steward Zhou has confirmed it means one major headache has been resolved—that's reason enough to celebrate." He lowered his voice again. "Besides, third-grade materials? At most they're worth fifteen thousand Open Heaven Pills or so. With your abilities these days, are you really worried about not earning that much?"
Yang Kai knew he had a point, but he still felt a bit sour about it. His mindset was actually pretty good—he'd come from the Star Boundary and adjusted well enough. But there were others who'd stepped out of their own Cosmos Worlds and couldn't shift their mentality fast enough, still carrying on with that same supreme-arrogance-they-were-the-center-of-the-universe attitude toward the people and affairs here. Those fools had died more times than anyone could count.
In barely half an hour's time, Zhou Zheng returned leading a large group of Seven Skills Land disciples. This showed that the Chixiao True Flame was no trivial matter to Seven Skills Land—otherwise they wouldn't have mobilized with such speed.
At their head was someone Yang Kai recognized: Du Rufeng, the steward disciple of Fire Spirit Land. Zhou Zheng, who usually strutted around with exaggerated authority in front of the chore servants, was now bowing and scraping subserviently before him.
Du Rufeng led the way with his gaze fixed straight ahead. Behind him, quite a few of the Seven Skills Land disciples couldn't be bothered to give Zhou Zheng so much as a glance.
They landed in the orchard, and Zhou Zheng waved at Yang Kai and Old Fang. "You two can leave. There's nothing more for you here."
Hearing this, would either of them linger? Yang Kai was curious about how they intended to collect the Chixiao True Flame, but if they weren't going to let him watch, there was nothing he could do.
He returned with Old Fang to the latter's orchard and sat on the stone bench outside the thatched hut. Old Fang brought out wine and filled both their cups.
They drank and chatted idly while Yang Kai kept glancing over toward his own orchard.
Old Fang laughed. "Stop looking, brother. They'll set up restrictions before long and you won't be able to see a thing. There's nothing for us to worry about over there—come, come, have a few drinks with me."
Yang Kai's mind was elsewhere.
But before long, just as Old Fang had said, layer upon layer of restrictions were deployed over his orchard, shrouding everything from view. Sure enough, there was nothing left to see.
Well, no point in trying to observe anymore. He might as well relax and drink with Old Fang.
After just a few cups, he suddenly sensed something and turned his head. A figure was flying over from the orchard in a great hurry—it was Zhou Zheng.
But Zhou Zheng was drenched in sweat, his face pale and drawn. Something had clearly gone wrong. From a distance he called out, "Yang Kai, get over here!"
Yang Kai and Old Fang exchanged a look, both wearing expressions of confusion. They stood and walked over to meet him. Yang Kai clasped his fists. "What does Steward Zhou need?"