And now, the harvest was indeed enormous! Although there had been some minor mishaps, everything had turned out well in the end.
Brother Huang and Sister Lan could not calm their emotions for a long time. The Celestial Punishment Bloodline—something neither of them had ever seen or even heard of—was of the same lineage as their own power, born from the same source, yet it possessed the extraordinary ability to harmonize the forces of Yin and Yang. No wonder, they mused, that upon first laying eyes on this young woman, they had both felt an involuntary sense of warmth and kinship.
That feeling was far stronger than what they experienced toward Yang Kai, who was of the Dragon Clan.
It seemed that, just as Yang Kai had said, although all of them had been born from that very first light of the world, the Celestial Punishment Bloodline must have held a unique and special position within that primordial light. That was the only explanation for why two ancient Supremes such as themselves would feel so differently toward her.
If that was the case, perhaps there was a chance to resolve the problem that had plagued them for countless ages. Brother Huang and Sister Lan exchanged a glance, their thoughts in perfect accord, each seeing the same hope reflected in the other's eyes.
Meanwhile, Yang Kai quietly observed Zhang Ruoxi's condition. She had already been at the peak of the Seventh Order, and now she had inadvertently absorbed the Solar and Lunar power—this could very well be the catalyst for her breakthrough.
This incident had been an accident, fraught with mortal danger, but once that danger had been resolved, it had become a tremendous opportunity for Zhang Ruoxi.
Perhaps due to the nature of her own bloodline, Ruoxi refined her resources at astonishing speed—not the least bit slower than Yang Kai himself.
Yang Kai's rapid refinement came from two sources: his rock-solid foundation, and the presence of the Sub-Tree within his Minor World. The Sub-Tree's mysterious properties were inexhaustible and immensely beneficial to the cultivation of Open Heaven realm cultivators. Unfortunately, the Sub-Tree was derived from the World Tree, and every new Sub-Tree cost a portion of the World Tree's own origin essence. Even Old Tree could produce only so many; otherwise, equipping every elite human warrior with one would have dramatically shortened their cultivation time and hastened their advancement to the Ninth Order.
In just one month, Ruoxi had completely refined an entire Seventh-Order Five Elements resource set.
It was worth noting that a Seventh-Order Five Elements resource set of this caliber was valued at a staggering seventy-five million Open Heaven Pills—and that was the price from several thousand years ago. In the current environment, it would only be more expensive, quite possibly exceeding a hundred million.
In other words, Ruoxi's one month of cultivation had consumed the equivalent of a hundred million Open Heaven Pills.
If she had simply been swallowing and refining Open Heaven Pills directly, there was no way she could have burned through such an astronomical quantity in such a short time. And even if she somehow had, the gains would not have come close to what she was achieving now.
This was precisely why, given the choice, cultivators preferred to refine resource sets to bolster the foundation of their Minor Worlds rather than rely on Open Heaven Pills. Unfortunately, most cultivators had no such luxury, leaving them with no option but to refine Open Heaven Pills to advance.
As for cultivation resources, Yang Kai had vast reserves of his own. Setting aside everything else, the compensation alone that Monaya had paid on behalf of the Ink Clan last time was beyond calculation. He had turned over the bulk of it to the General Headquarters for the use of humanity's warriors, but he had kept a portion for himself.
With his cultivation now on the verge of the Eighth Order peak, he no longer needed to focus on his own advancement. These resources were of no immediate use to him and could perfectly address Ruoxi's current crisis.
After Ruoxi had completely refined the first set of Seventh-Order resources, Yang Kai produced another and handed it over. Ruoxi continued her refinement…
As the Five Elements power accumulated, the imbalance within her Minor World gradually corrected itself. The most obvious sign was the two-colored luminous wings behind the Celestial Punishment figure—their radiance was steadily dimming, evidence that the Solar and Lunar power was being fully absorbed and integrated by Ruoxi's Minor World.
And as the foundation of her Minor World deepened, the barrier at its outermost edge showed signs of approaching its absolute limit. Once that limit was breached, it would mark Ruoxi's advancement to the Eighth Order. At that point, the entire territory of her Minor World would expand dramatically, and her foundation would increase by leaps and bounds.
Time flew by. Twelve years passed.
Within the Minor World, the Celestial Punishment figure had faded completely, and the two-colored luminous wings behind it had nearly vanished. After refining a massive quantity of Five Elements resources, the power of the Minor World—which had been thrown into imbalance by the absorption of Solar and Lunar power—was finally balanced once more.
Inside the Minor World, winds and clouds surged. Dense and overwhelming heavenly might swirled around Ruoxi's body, her aura having long since climbed to its absolute peak, on the verge of shattering through to new heights.
"Sir!" Ruoxi suddenly opened her eyes, casting a look of appeal toward Yang Kai.
Yang Kai transmitted his voice to reassure her: "Your advancement to the Eighth Order will happen today. Focus on your breakthrough—I will serve as your guardian!"
"Mm!" Ruoxi gave a slight nod, her anxious heart immediately settling as she turned her full attention to the myriad changes unfolding within her Minor World.
Several more days passed. With the last wisp of Five Elements power fully integrated, the Celestial Punishment figure disappeared entirely, and the Solar and Lunar power was completely expended. The boost in strength that this entire process had given Zhang Ruoxi had deepened the foundation of her Minor World so profoundly that she finally crossed that last critical threshold.
Deep within her consciousness, the sensation of a barrier shattering echoed forth. Ruoxi's body trembled slightly, and the aura of her Seventh-Order peak cultivation surged abruptly upward. At the same time, the original barrier of her Minor World was breached, and its territory—already pushed to its utmost limit—expanded rapidly outward like an inflating balloon.
Within the Minor World, the earth shook and the sky rumbled, winds and clouds shifting in a grand transformation.
Vast stretches of new territory blossomed outward.
These newly manifested lands were initially chaotic, but as the combined forces of Yin, Yang, and the Five Elements permeated them, they gradually evolved and harmonized, settling into the settled landscape of the Minor World.
Yang Kai stood watch with careful attention, but he was not particularly worried.