After a flurry of activity, Yang Kai scattered more than two thousand Heaven and Earth Beads, entrusting them to the World Tree's care.
To his surprise, upon receiving those two thousand-plus Heaven and Earth Beads, the World Tree's condition seemed to improve somewhat — though he couldn't be certain whether that was merely his imagination.
What truly caught Yang Kai's attention was the number of intact World Fruits still hanging on the tree.
The World Fruits corresponding to the Realms he had refined were all in perfect condition. Since the Realms themselves had been well-preserved and uncorrupted by the power of the Mo, their corresponding fruits showed no damage either.
But beyond the fruits of those two thousand-plus Realms, there were several dozen additional unblemished fruits.
These fruits displayed none of the rot or decay that afflicted the damaged ones, nor did any Mo power leak from them. Yang Kai even felt an extraordinarily intimate connection with one of them, as though drawn to it by some deep familiarity.
This sensation startled him. It was nothing more than a World Fruit — why should he feel any closeness toward it?
He probed it gently, and his eyebrows rose in sudden understanding. "This is the World Fruit of the Star Boundary?"
He was the Great Emperor acknowledged by the Heavenly Dao of the Star Boundary itself. Naturally, a World Fruit corresponding to the Star Boundary would resonate with him in a way no ordinary fruit could.
This particular fruit was a mid-grade World Fruit. In other words, if one were to pick and consume it, a third- to fifth-grade Open Heaven Realm cultivator could advance directly by one full grade — and their future prospects would be significantly brighter as well.
But the Star Boundary would inevitably pay a tremendous price for this. Its martial cultivation standards would regress sharply, and the Heavenly Dao itself would become fragmented and incomplete.
Yang Kai's heart ached with sympathy as he recalled the low-grade and mid-grade World Fruits he had once obtained from the old tree. Back then, he had taken more than a dozen fruits, and who knew how many Realms had suffered for it.
As though sensing his thoughts, the World Tree swayed its trunk once more. It produced no words or divine sense, yet Yang Kai clearly understood the meaning it conveyed.
The World Fruits he had taken in the past had all corresponded to Realms that harbored no intelligent beings — so the consequences had been minimal. At most, the development and evolution of those Realms had been delayed by some extra centuries.
Knowing this, Yang Kai felt considerably less guilty.
However, almost immediately, a new realization struck him: through this World Fruit linked to the Star Boundary, he could open a passage connecting back to it — he could return to the Star Boundary!
His heart stirred, and he quickly examined the other intact fruits. Through their spiritual resonance, he confirmed his suspicion — by借助ing these World Fruits, he could open void passages leading to the Realms each fruit corresponded to.
He could even sense the greater domains in which those Realms were situated.
Yang Kai's expression shifted, and he couldn't help but say, "Old Tree, you could almost be considered a transit hub for the Three Thousand Worlds."
The World Tree swayed again, radiating an air of "naturally so."
It made sense, of course. The World Tree was the manifestation of the collective power of every Realm within the Three Thousand Worlds. Each of its fruits corresponded to a single Realm, and it maintained an inseparable connection with every great domain and every world.
No wonder the Taixu Void had been so elusive, and why the Black Tide that granted entry into it appeared across different great domains. In theory, one could enter the Taixu Void from any domain — it all depended on whether the old tree was willing to grant passage.
With this discovery, Yang Kai grew eager. He carefully examined each of the intact World Fruits.
One of them corresponded to the Star Boundary. Beyond that, over a dozen fruits were linked to Realms within the new great domain neighboring the Star Boundary — the domain Yang Kai had stumbled upon years ago when he shattered the boundary wall during his battle with Zuo Quanhui of the Thousand Crane Blessed Land, a place no one had ever set foot in before. The Little Stone Race had been brought out from that very domain.
In addition, roughly thirty fruits remained intact, meaning that thirty corresponding Realms throughout the Three Thousand Worlds had not yet fallen under Mo control. They were scattered across various great domains.
Upon realizing this, Yang Kai called out, "Old Tree, lend me a hand!"
As he spoke, his figure blurred and plunged directly toward one of the intact World Fruits. Though the fruit was no larger than an infant's fist, it rapidly expanded in Yang Kai's field of vision until he was swallowed entirely.
The moment he entered the fruit, he felt spatial laws ripple around him, bolstered by a surge of power from the World Tree that opened a void corridor stretching toward a distant great domain.
In an instant, Yang Kai tore through the void and materialized at the outer boundary of a Realm.
He gazed upon a vast world of beautiful scenery — not a small Realm, though perhaps not ancient either. Its environment was only fair, so while living creatures could survive there, the Heavenly Dao's laws were quite thin. In other words, if any martial cultivation had emerged here, it would be at a very low level.
His divine sense swept across the Realm, but he found no trace of humanity — only a few other creatures of limited intelligence.
He produced a Realm Map to verify the Realm's location and silently noted that it was no wonder it had remained unoccupied by the Mo for so long. This world was situated on the far periphery of its domain, and the Mo likely hadn't even been aware of its existence, allowing it to escape their grasp.
Given the nature of the Mo, they would never have let a Realm like this go unclaimed otherwise.