Master Fan Nao smiled and said, "Can you guarantee that every fourteen portions of resources will be exchanged for one portion of higher grade? I just said—this time the luck was fairly good. If the luck had been poor, you could toss in dozens or even a hundred portions and still come up empty. The word 'Creation' is the most unpredictable of all."
Yang Kai tightened his grip on the Sixth-Order Wood-attribute resource in his hand and said in a deep voice, "But if I had to choose, I would rather consume dozens of Fifth-Order Yin-Yang attribute resources in exchange for a single Sixth-Order resource of the same attribute."
Fifth-Order Yin-Yang attribute resources were considered rare, but they were far more obtainable than Sixth-Order ones. After all, Sixth-Order Yin-Qin attribute resources were strategic reserves even among the great Cavern Heavens and Blessed Lands—ones that were never lightly deployed.
Back when the Void Temple had been besieged by Zuo Quanhui and his Heavenly Sword Alliance, the various Great Emperors had needed resources to advance into the Open Heaven Realm. If Yang Kai himself hadn't personally ventured into the Black Prison to rob Luan Baifeng and mine the ore star, he never could have gathered the necessary resources—and the Great Emperors might still be trapped at the Emperor Realm to this day.
Master Fan Nao nodded. "And that's exactly why they've come! The World Tree is infinitely profound. Even though the World Tree in the Star Boundary is only a subsidiary tree, the energy it feeds back is so powerful it beggars belief. The great Cavern Heavens and Blessed Lands have each taken in a certain quota of disciples from your Star Boundary, and from their own territories they've sent over considerable talent as well. Over the decades, a great many excellent seedlings have already emerged. One could say that the number of geniuses who have appeared in the Star Boundary over these past several decades exceeds what the entire Three Thousand Worlds produced in the previous thousand years combined. Although it's still early and these young ones haven't fully matured, reading between the lines—among them, there are countless who will qualify to advance directly into the Fifth or Sixth Order in the future! And some may even have the chance to press on toward direct advancement into the Seventh Order!"
The Star Boundary was his own homeland, yet hearing Master Fan Nao say all this, Yang Kai couldn't help but feel a swell of pride. It was easy to envision that in a few hundred more years, the Star Boundary would surely present a splendid scene of a hundred flowers blooming in competition!
Master Fan Nao sighed with emotion. "Direct advancement into the Seventh Order! Since the founding of the Thirty-Six Cavern Heavens and Seventy-Two Blessed Lands, how many individuals have managed to advance directly into the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm? That requires not only extraordinary talent but also the blessings of heaven and earth! And to advance to the Seventh Order, Seventh-Order resources are what's needed. The Five-Attribute resources are manageable—all the great Cavern Heavens and Blessed Lands maintain reserves, and the quantities should be considerable, since the upper-grade Open Heaven cultivators need them for their own cultivation as well. But Seventh-Order Yin-Yang attribute resources, even if they exist in reserve, won't be plentiful. Naturally, they need to plan ahead."
Yang Kai understood. "So they want to borrow the Creation Divine Furnace to produce as much Seventh-Order Yin-Yang attribute material as possible, so they won't be caught short when the time comes?"
Master Fan Nao nodded.
Yang Kai exhaled a long breath. Putting himself in their shoes—if he were a member of one of the great Cavern Heavens and Blessed Lands, he would have made the same choice.
"If that's the case, then why not simply negotiate with them yourself, Master? Why hand over this tremendous benefit to me?" Yang Kai asked, puzzled.
If they were going to borrow the Creation Divine Furnace, they would obviously have to pay a price. This was a boon for the Great Origin Blessed Lands—any terms they set would leave them rolling in profit. There was no reason to pass such a windfall to someone else.
Yet Master Fan Nao had done exactly that, going so far as to declare himself a Guest Elder of the Ling Xiao Palace, with full authority over the Creation Divine Furnace granted to Yang Kai.
Master Fan Nao said, "Today only four people came here, but those four don't represent just four Cavern Heavens and Blessed Lands—they represent all of them. They were merely dipping a toe in the water. My Great Origin has long since declined. Now it rests entirely on this old man's shoulders. Do you think Great Origin is in any position to negotiate terms with all those great powers? At most, we could ask for some materials as payment. But why would Great Origin need materials? This old man can roll up his sleeves and forge artifacts for people—more than enough to earn all the materials we could want."
Yang Kai frowned slightly. "Master, are you saying that if you refuse, they'll resort to force?"
Master Fan Nao said evenly, "Such is the tide of the times."
Yang Kai felt a chill run through him. According to what the Master had said, all the great Cavern Heavens and Blessed Lands should already be stockpiling Seventh-Order Yin-Yang attribute resources in advance—and the more, the better. The Creation Divine Furnace had to be put to use.
In the past, even if they had known of the Creation Divine Furnace's existence, they wouldn't have bothered with it. The main reason was the furnace's extreme uncertainty—tossing in dozens or hundreds of resources might yield nothing at all. No faction could afford such losses. After all, every faction held some reserve of Seventh-Order Yin-Yang attribute materials, and even if the quantities weren't large, they were enough to get by.
But now the situation had changed. Reserves were insufficient, and there was no alternative but to turn to other methods. Deploying the Creation Divine Furnace—no matter how great the losses—as long as a single disciple advanced directly into the Seventh Order, it would be worth it.
After all, direct advancement into the Seventh Order meant that one's ultimate limit would be the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm!
And it wasn't just Seventh-Order. The demand for Sixth-Order Yin-Yang attribute reserves among the great Cavern Heavens and Blessed Lands would likely be even greater.
"Right now, in the entire Three Thousand Worlds, the only one in a position to negotiate terms with all the great Cavern Heavens and Blessed Lands is you—your Void Temple," Master Fan Nao said, turning to look at Yang Kai.
The matter of the World Tree was the best example.
The Star Boundary was Yang Kai's homeland, and the World Tree grew within it. So regardless of Yang Kai's cultivation level, he held sufficient say in this matter—the status of a Great Emperor was his bargaining chip for speaking with the Cavern Heavens and Blessed Lands on equal footing.
Yang Kai's eyes flickered. "What terms does the Master have?"
Master Fan Nao smiled. "Talking with a clever person certainly makes things simple."
Great Origin had fallen into decline and couldn't haggle with the great Cavern Heavens and Blessed Lands. Under the current tide, those powers intended to borrow the Qiankun Furnace, and Great Origin had no way to stand in their way.
Left with no alternative, the only option was to shift the risk onto Yang Kai's shoulders. But in doing so, Great Origin's share of the profits would inevitably be reduced by a considerable portion.
Master Fan Nao was not about to take that kind of loss.
"No matter what terms you negotiate with those Cavern Heavens and Blessed Lands—Great Origin takes half!" Master Fan Nao declared bluntly.
Even half would be far more than Great Origin could have secured on its own.
Yang Kai agreed without hesitation. "Done."
This was essentially a gift delivered right to his doorstep. He would receive half the benefits without having to do anything at all—naturally, Yang Kai had no complaints.
"In addition, I want the Great Origin training grounds in the Star Boundary to be expanded to double their current size. This old man wants to send even more disciples to cultivate in the Star Boundary!"
"That's no problem either."