The Medicine King Cauldron had been fully refined!
Before Yang Kai could even revel in the joy, a tremendous repulsive force surged from all directions. The sheer magnitude of it made the entire space hum, and Yang Kai's form suddenly turned hazy and indistinct, as though his very existence had become incompatible with the world itself.
Yang Kai had anticipated this. During the final step of refining the Medicine King Cauldron, he had sensed what was coming. Had he not, he wouldn't have stopped at the critical moment to go after the other divine artifacts.
The world's origin power had been seized — the realm would no longer tolerate his existence.
If a native being of this world faced such a thing, Heavenly Tribulation would descend, and they would either have their soul scattered to the winds or transcend beyond the mortal plane. But Yang Kai was a Sixth-Order Open Heaven cultivator, and the Divine Artifact Realm could do nothing to him beyond expelling him — that was the law of heaven and earth at work.
The members of the Profound Pill Sect stood frozen in shock. None of them knew what Yang Kai had done, but what they were witnessing far exceeded the bounds of their understanding. It felt as though a vast, irresistible will had descended from beyond the veil, gazing down upon this small forbidden ground, leaving a group of Spirit Rank cultivators trembling and speechless.
Yang Kai let out a low shout, circulating his own spiritual power, his flesh and blood churning as he invoked the power of the Dragon Vein.
Over the years, he had drawn upon the Dragon Vein's power quite extensively, mostly to counteract the side effects of cultivating the Heavenly Devouring Art. Though the Dragon Transformation Technique could not turn him into the colossal three-hundred-zhang behemoth, the dragon's might still radiated from his body, wreathing him as he resisted the world's repulsive force.
His flickering form solidified noticeably. Not daring to slack off, Yang Kai hastily snatched up the Qingxu Sword and continued refining.
In a matter of moments, the Qingxu Sword had been fully refined as well.
With two great divine artifacts claimed, the repulsive force intensified severalfold. Yang Kai's skin cracked across his entire body, blood streaming from every fissure — a terrifying sight. His form, which had just grown more solid, turned ethereal and wavering once more, a sure sign that this realm was about to cast him out.
There wasn't much time left. Gritting his teeth, Yang Kai reached for the Ten-Directions Evil Shadow Spear and repeated the process!
The will of heaven and earth seemed to rage against his insatiable greed. Lightning crackled in the void, bolts arcing and writhing toward Yang Kai from every direction.
Booming thunder rang out. In an instant, Yang Kai's flesh was torn open, and the acrid smell of charred skin filled the air. The moment the anomaly began, the higher-ups of the Profound Pill Sect sensed the danger and retreated from the forbidden ground en masse, watching in horror.
Within the forbidden ground, lightning flashed and thunder roared. The wrath of heaven and earth sent billions of living beings into a panic. The sky above churned as thick, dark clouds spread across the firmament like a heavy quilt, pressing down until one could barely breathe.
The Ten-Directions Evil Shadow Spear had been refined!
Yang Kai reached for the next divine artifact, but his hand grasped only empty air. His palm had grown translucent and formless, as if it no longer possessed any substance.
The repulsive force pouring in from all sides had grown beyond anything he could withstand!
He had reached his limit.
Yang Kai sighed inwardly. After spending so many years seizing five divine artifacts and refining them one by one — six in total including the Medicine King Cauldron — in the end he had only managed to refine three. The remaining three were beyond his power now.
By that reckoning, he had wasted twenty or thirty years for nothing.
But it didn't really matter. The flow of time inside the Minor Source World differed from the outside. To him personally, the time lost was not significant.
He cast one final glance at this world, and then his vision blurred. A sensation of the sky overturning and the earth flipping enveloped him as kaleidoscopic colors flashed before his eyes like a revolving lantern. His consciousness seemed to stretch and distort in that single instant.
When Yang Kai came to his senses, he was standing in a vast void. Before him, a peculiar vortex rotated slowly and ceaselessly.
He couldn't help but shake his head. Decades of memories from the Divine Artifact Realm surged back, giving him the strange sensation of having lived an entirely new life. His old memories slowly resurfaced.
He remembered at last — this was the forbidden ground of Yin Yang Heaven, and the vortex before him was the entrance to the Divine Artifact Realm. This was where he had originally entered.
Before he could think further, Yang Kai's expression suddenly turned grave. He hastily sat cross-legged.
An immense and unfathomable force was flooding into his personal Little Universe from seemingly nowhere, enriching and fortifying its foundations, causing it to expand and elevate itself wildly upon its existing base.
The force had no discernible origin — it seemed to materialize from thin air. But Yang Kai knew it came from the Divine Artifact Realm itself.
He had refined three great divine artifacts, which meant he had seized thirty percent of the realm's origin. The entire Divine Artifact Realm had poured thirty percent of its worldly power into his Little Universe.
Moreover, because of the nature of this experience, the power felt as though Yang Kai had painstakingly cultivated it himself. There were no hidden dangers or discomfort — it merged with his Little Universe perfectly.
The torrent of power caused his Little Universe to quake continuously, and Yang Kai's mind trembled along with it.
It took quite some time before the situation gradually stabilized. Examining himself, Yang Kai found that his Sixth-Order Open Heaven cultivation had jumped a significant degree. He had not yet reached the Seventh Order, but the gains from this single venture were greater than years of bitter Cultivation.
Back then, Lord Xu Ling had mentioned that there were several shortcuts to advancement in the Open Heaven realm, and exploring Minor Source Worlds was one of them. It seemed that was indeed true. A single trip into the Divine Artifact Realm had yielded such results — if he went in a few more times, reaching the Seventh Order would be effortless.
Being the son-in-law of Yin Yang Heaven was no loss at all!
He opened his eyes with a heart full of delight, only to find an old man standing before him, bare-chested and covered in scars, staring straight at him.
Yang Kai wasn't sure if it was his imagination, but the old man seemed rather unhappy. His expression was downright sullen.