The excision of territory from his Minor World brought not merely the problem of an incomplete domain, but also a decline in his foundational depth.
Had Yang Kai attempted such a thing right after ascending to the Seventh Grade, it very likely would have caused his grade to slip back down to the Sixth.
However, having previously consumed a high-grade World Fruit and spent the past two years refining several sets of Seventh Grade resources, he had accumulated considerable foundational depth at the Seventh Grade level, so there was no risk of his grade regressing.
Thinking back on it, Biluo Pass had granted him a high-grade World Fruit for two reasons: first, as a reward for his considerable contributions, and second, to prepare for this very moment.
And the delay of two years before having him surrender the Heaven and Earth Spring may well have been calculated with this consideration in mind.
What caught Yang Kai's attention, however, was not the damage to his Minor World, but rather the strange activity of the World Tree's subsidiary tree.
Right now, the subsidiary tree within his Minor World was rustling audibly, and streams of mysterious power imperceptible to the naked eye were emanating from the tree, surging toward the damaged region of his Minor World.
This process was entirely beyond Yang Kai's control—he had no idea what was happening. But when the subsidiary tree released that mysterious energy, his pain was visibly relieved, as though he had found a cool spring in the scorching heat.
More than that, he had a vague intuition that the subsidiary tree's current anomaly was of great benefit to him!
It was only a feeling, though, so he couldn't be certain. Yang Kai did not immediately take the Profound Mother Spirit Fruit, and to ease Zhong Liang's worries, he spoke: "Please don't worry, sir. I'm fine."
As he spoke, he rose to his feet. "I'll head back now. Sealing myself away to repair the Minor World may take some time."
Seeing this, Zhong Liang naturally did not stop him, and nodded: "Very well. But remember to take that Profound Mother Spirit Fruit as soon as you return."
"Yes!" Yang Kai replied solemnly, bowed, and hurried back through the pass, quickly returning to his quarters.
In the void, Zhong Liang watched Yang Kai depart, then turned his gaze to Ding Yao.
At this moment, the force of heaven and earth was roiling within Ding Yao's body. From time to time, bursts of energy surged out from within him, dissipating into the void.
Just as Yang Kai had refined the World Tree's subsidiary tree, Ding Yao now needed to refine the Heaven and Earth Spring. To do so, he first had to purge the impurities belonging to Yang Kai, since he had absorbed that massive chunk of Yang Kai's Minor World territory into his own body.
That chunk of territory contained a portion of Yang Kai's foundational depth, which was not only useless to Ding Yao but actively harmful.
However, his cultivation was higher than Yang Kai's, and the excised territory was not particularly large, so the impurities were relatively few.
In just a few days, everything was settled. When Ding Yao opened his eyes, his aura seemed even more condensed than before.
Zhong Liang saw this and called out: "Congratulations, Brother Ding! Now that you have the Heaven and Earth Spring, the Supreme grade is within reach!"
For those of them at the Eighth Grade, the so-called Supreme grade naturally referred to the Ninth Grade.
Biluo Pass had several dozen Eighth Grade Open Heaven cultivators. The reason they had decided to let Ding Yao take the Heaven and Earth Spring was not merely because of his exceptional strength, but because when he had ascended into Open Heaven, he had leaped directly to the Seventh Grade. His current Eighth Grade was not his limit—in his lifetime, he had the potential to reach the realm of a Ninth Grade Ancestor.
By comparison, while Zhong Liang and the others were also formidable in strength, their potential had all been exhausted. The pinnacle of the Eighth Grade was the highest achievement they could reach.
Ding Yao had been at the Eighth Grade for several thousand years, having immersed himself in this realm for a long time, but the gap to the Ninth Grade was still significant.
If he could obtain the Heaven and Earth Spring, it would undoubtedly shorten the time needed to achieve the Ninth Grade.
At these words, Ding Yao replied: "The matter of the Supreme grade still requires tempering, as we both know. But now that I have the Heaven and Earth Spring, I cannot let that young man's effort go to waste."
Zhong Liang immediately had a bad feeling: "What are you planning to do?"
Ding Yao grinned: "That young man gifted me the Heaven and Earth Spring—let me return him a grand gift!"
With that, his figure flickered and transformed into a streak of golden light, vanishing in an instant.
Zhong Liang stood in place, his expression shifting for a moment, before he couldn't help but stamp his foot and curse: "A brute, an absolute brute!"
Despite his words, he did not give chase. He knew it would be pointless—once Ding Yao had made up his mind, there was no stopping him. Moreover, given Ding Yao's strength, there shouldn't be too much risk in whatever he was about to do.
Inside a secluded chamber, Yang Kai sat cross-legged, simultaneously refining Seventh Grade resources for his cultivation and monitoring the changes in his Minor World.
He had not taken the Profound Mother Spirit Fruit, because he wanted to see what effect the subsidiary tree's strange activity would have on his Minor World.
If he took the Profound Mother Spirit Fruit and the Minor World was fully repaired, the subsidiary tree's anomaly might simply disappear.
Time passed, and the changes in his Minor World grew ever more apparent. The Minor World, previously incomplete due to the damage, had actually begun to slowly repair itself.
This shocked Yang Kai considerably.
Only now did he finally understand what the subsidiary tree's strange activity would ultimately lead to.
The subsidiary tree could actually repair a damaged Minor World! In other words, even without taking the Profound Mother Spirit Fruit, he would have been perfectly fine.
The World Tree's subsidiary tree actually possessed this kind of ability?