"Majestic Evergreen — life and death are one's own!"
In the sealed chamber, Yang Kai murmured low as the Wood Element power within his Dao Seal blazed with radiant light. Emerald green hues swirled around his body as a towering ancient tree suddenly rose behind him, its colossal canopy spreading wide enough to blot out the sky and shroud the earth.
Profound sensations imprinted themselves upon his mind, and waves of insight began to stir within him.
This was no ordinary Wood Element divine ability — it was a Divine Ability Manifestation on the same level as Golden Crow Forges the Sun!
His current seclusion was primarily meant to consolidate and refine his accumulated gains, stabilizing his foundation so that no complications would arise when he advanced to the Heaven Opening Realm in the future. And when it came to stabilizing one's foundation, there was probably no more effective method than comprehending the mysteries of the Yin-Yang Five Elements.
As long as he could penetrate the profundities of the Yin-Yang Five Elements, it would mean the Yin, Yang, and Five Elements powers within his Dao Seal had been thoroughly mastered — and there would naturally be nothing left to worry about.
Among the various powers he had condensed, the Fire Element had already yielded Golden Crow Forges the Sun, and the Earth Element had the Dragon Shield Secret Art. The Water Element, the Yang Element, and the recently refined Metal Element were still complete enigmas. Yet the Wood Element, before the Blood Demon Divine Palace, had come to him in a flash of sudden inspiration. The problem was that the situation had been too urgent — after rescuing Qu Huashang, he had rushed straight into the Blood Demon Divine Palace with no time to properly comprehend his newly acquired Wood Element divine ability.
After returning to the Void Earth, he had spent the entire time in seclusion refining that Seventh Grade inner core. Only now, at last, had he found the opportunity!
Yang Kai discovered with delight that what he had comprehended from the Wood Element power was no mere secret technique — it was a Divine Ability Manifestation!
No wonder he had been able to block that terrifying strike from the Seventh Grade Star Turtle. He had found it puzzling before — even if the Wood Element power condensed by the Ageless Tree was of exceptionally high grade, and even granting that this was a defensive divine ability, it shouldn't have been enough to stop such a blow, given the vast gap in cultivation between them. Now he finally understood. He had simply underestimated this technique's true power.
Divine Ability Manifestations had always been the exclusive domain of Heaven Opening Realm cultivators of superior grade. Only they were qualified to comprehend a Divine Ability Manifestation — and even then, it was merely a qualification. Many superior-grade Heaven Opening cultivators, despite their formidable strength, still did not possess their own.
That Yang Kai had been able to comprehend Golden Crow Forges the Sun while still at the Emperor Sovereign level was already a miracle. Back when Zhao Baichuan, the former boss of the Scarlet Star, had witnessed that blazing sun, he had remarked that with this Divine Ability Manifestation alone, Yang Kai could hold his own against an ordinary inferior-grade Heaven Opening cultivator. That was enough to demonstrate just how powerful a Divine Ability Manifestation truly was.
And now, following Golden Crow Forges the Sun, Yang Kai had obtained this Majestic Evergreen Divine Ability Manifestation as well. If Zhao Baichuan knew about it, the man would probably leap straight out of his grave.
Realizing that the towering ancient tree behind him was a Divine Ability Manifestation, Yang Kai was so elated that his grin stretched from ear to ear.
He probed it carefully, and understanding soon dawned.
Majestic Evergreen was not merely a manifestation-type divine ability oriented toward defense — it also possessed healing capabilities. After all, the Wood Element power had been condensed from the essence of the Ageless Tree, so such an ability was hardly surprising.
However, this particular ability held limited value for Yang Kai, given that his own recovery capabilities were already extraordinarily powerful and he had no need to rely on external means.
Golden Crow Forges the Sun was an offensive manifestation. Majestic Evergreen was a defensive one. Offense and defense were now both in hand, and with the newly refined Metal Element power added in, Yang Kai's strength had taken a tremendous leap forward.
After studying the manifestation for a while longer, Yang Kai withdrew it, settled his mind, and devoted his full attention to comprehending his other powers.
That he had been able to achieve this breakthrough with Majestic Evergreen before the Blood Demon Divine Palace owed much to his long-standing, unrelenting efforts at comprehension. Ever since he had first grasped Golden Crow Forges the Sun, Yang Kai had spent every spare moment pondering the mysteries of the Yin-Yang Five Elements.
It was only that he had never reaped any results — until now. It seemed the issue had never been the wrong direction, but simply the wrong timing.
Now that he had finally seen tangible progress, knowing that his years of effort had not been wasted, Yang Kai threw himself into his cultivation with even greater vigor.
Strangely enough, after half a year of seclusion, another revelation came. In the sealed chamber, a full moon suddenly rose slowly from behind him, its pale light flowing like water, cascading gently downward. The temperature within the chamber plummeted abruptly as frost spread across every surface, crackling with a dense, ceaseless patter.
A Water Element divine ability had manifested!
His Water Element had been obtained through refining the Moon Essence, carrying an inherently cold nature — hence this extraordinary phenomenon.
But this Moonlight Cascade was not a Divine Ability Manifestation; it was a pure secret technique, a full tier below Golden Crow Forges the Sun in the Fire Element and Majestic Evergreen in the Wood Element.
Yang Kai was not troubled by this. Divine Ability Manifestations were exceedingly rare things. That he had managed to comprehend two at his current level of strength was already a sign of heaven's favor — he was more than satisfied. What more could he possibly ask for?