With the gourds no longer restraining him, Pu Baixiong regained his freedom and lay spread-eagled across Yang Kai's body, chuckling gleefully: "Kid, you got lucky — you've claimed this gourd vine too! Let me tell you, these little gourds are tender and plump, absolutely delicious. If you stew them into—" "What are you doing?"
Even as he spoke, Pu Baixiong let out a startled cry — he had been suddenly seized in Yang Kai's grip, and Yang Kai was staring at the top of his head with blazing eyes!
Seeing that look, how could Pu Baixiong not know what Yang Kai had in mind? He frantically covered the crown of his head with his roots and shouted: "Kid, you can't repay kindness with enmity — I just risked my life to help you!"
Yang Kai said, drooling: "Just one — I'll only eat one! You've got so many grapes, losing one won't make a difference!"
Without waiting for his consent, he reached out and plucked a grape from Pu Baixiong's head, popping it straight into his mouth. Pure medicinal power exploded within him, and Yang Kai felt his utterly exhausted body suddenly bathed in an enormous surge of nourishment, his strength rapidly flooding back.
He had experienced the grapes' potency once before and knew their effects were extraordinary. Had it not been for that, he wouldn't have set his sights on Pu Baixiong in the first place.
The man surnamed Gou had been rendered unconscious by Little Mushroom, but who knew when he might wake? Delay might bring complications — recovering as quickly as possible was imperative.
Pu Baixiong clutched his head with both hands, sat on Yang Kai's chest, and let loose a torrent of abuse: "Heartless brat! Uncle Pu went through all that trouble to save you for nothing!"
As he cursed, his roots flailed about, sweeping and whipping across Yang Kai's body, but with his meager strength, how could he possibly harm Yang Kai in the slightest?
In no more than half an incense stick's time, Yang Kai had regained his vigor. Though not fully recovered, he had restored at least sixty percent of his strength. The grapes' medicinal effects were still at work, and combined with his own natural recuperative abilities, it would only take a few days to return to peak condition.
He rose to his feet. Pu Baixiong immediately clamped his mouth shut, no longer daring to shout. He glanced timidly at Yang Kai, and seeing no intention of settling scores, ingratiatingly added: "Master, that gourd vine is a fine treasure — don't let it slip away."
There was no need for him to say it — Yang Kai had already suffered greatly because of it. One could say the man surnamed Gou's ability to fight him to a standstill had been entirely thanks to the gourd vine's power. His own strength was certainly nothing to scoff at, but compared to Yang Kai's current level, there was still a notable gap.
He called Little Mushroom over, took the gourd vine from her hands, and gave it a casual twirl. The seven gourds upon the vine spoke in unison: "Quiet down — we're sleeping."
Pu Baixiong said from the side: "Master, there's a trick to this gourd vine — whoever holds the vine can control all seven of those little things."
"No refining needed?" Yang Kai was taken aback.
Pu Baixiong pondered deeply and said uncertainly: "I don't think so?"
Yang Kai thought it over and realized it seemed to be exactly as Pu Baixiong had said — the gourd vine could be wielded without any refining. It was, after all, a Sacred Medicine, the same type of existence as Pu Baixiong and Little Mushroom. How could one refine something like that?
This also explained why Little Mushroom had been able to return the gourds to the vine after picking it up.
Yang Kai was overjoyed! The gourd vine was a devastating weapon — having secured it now was enough to catapult his strength to an entirely new level!
But this was ultimately only external power. For a warrior, personal strength was the foundation. Though elated, Yang Kai had not lost his head. To him, the gourd vine's greatest value lay in the Fifth-Grade power it contained. With this Sacred Medicine in hand, it meant he would have a steady stream of Fifth-Grade power at his disposal — the ability to continually produce Fifth-Grade Open Heaven cultivators!
The value of this thing was immeasurable!
If brought to the outside world, this would absolutely be an object capable of suppressing the fortune of an entire region. He could not expose it lightly, or it would surely bring a fatal calamity!
He cautiously tried stowing the gourd vine into his Small World and found that it could accommodate the item. Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief, planting the gourd vine directly in the herb garden.
Although the Small World was a self-contained realm, its laws were far from complete. It could hold ordinary living creatures without issue, but it could not contain existences at the Open Heaven Realm level. That was because Open Heaven cultivators possessed Inner Small Universes within their bodies, and forcibly containing them would only destabilize the Small World — in severe cases, it could even rupture the entire realm.
He picked up Pu Baixiong and Little Mushroom, set them on his shoulders, and strode forward. In the blink of an eye, he arrived at the side of the man surnamed Gou.
Snores filled the air — the fellow was sleeping soundly, utterly oblivious to the danger bearing down on him!
Though Little Mushroom was not suited for direct confrontation, she was the transformed shape of the Profound Illusory Mushroom after all. The breath she had blown could keep the man surnamed Gou asleep for a year or even half a year, unless someone found a way to reverse it.
Yang Kai bent down, removed the man's spatial ring, and conducted a thorough search, but found no identity badge.
The man had repeatedly used the Dao-Breaking Seal. Earlier, even Xu Zhen had suspected he came from the Ziqiong Blessed Land. If that were truly the case, he would surely have a badge on him. Such a badge was not only a symbol of identity for the Disciples of these Cave Heavens and Blessed Lands — sealed within could be a divine ability left by his master, which would trigger the moment his life fell into mortal peril.
How could Yang Kai afford not to be cautious?
But the absence of a badge meant this fellow was not a Disciple of the Ziqiong Blessed Land. His ability to use the Dao-Breaking Seal had likely been taught to him by Jin Wu.
Just as Zhu Jiuyin had passed the Reverse Yin-Yang Five-Element Profound Universe to Yang Kai, Jin Wu had very likely had a Bearer from the Ziqiong Blessed Land many years ago. It was hardly surprising that he knew the Dao-Breaking Seal.
After confirming there would be no danger, Yang Kai unleashed a devastating palm strike. Power surged forth, a muffled groan escaped the man's lips, and the soundly sleeping surnamed Gou exploded into fine powder — not even bones remained!
The man had sought his life, so Yang Kai naturally showed no mercy.
Having dealt with the man surnamed Gou, Yang Kai finally looked up toward the sole remaining bubble.