Deep within the Divine Tree's heart, Yang Kai repeatedly sent out his divine thoughts, guiding the refinement of the Divine Tree's consciousness.
Over time, he had come to treat the Divine Tree as a true living being—it had its own emotions, its own thoughts, and its own judgments. It was far more than just a towering tree.
Given this foundation, the Divine Tree grew ever more affectionate toward him, showing not a shred of wariness as it opened its heart completely.
Its nascent consciousness was like a bewildered and mischievous infant. Every time Yang Kai's soul avatar slipped into the tree's heart, it would brim with boundless joy—embracing him, tugging at him, guiding him on a tour through the tree's trunk as if eager to show him every part of its body.
Its consciousness at this stage was utterly simple—a pristine white sheet unstained by anything. Every flicker of joy, anger, sorrow, or delight was expressed with complete openness.
When Yang Kai arrived, it was happy. When Yang Kai prepared to leave, it felt a sense of loss and reluctance. On many occasions, even while in a deep slumber, its spiritual energy would cling tightly to his soul avatar, as though unwilling to let him go.
This made Yang Kai genuinely pleased, and he found himself warming to this simple, delicate life from the bottom of his heart. Its purity and simplicity made him feel almost ashamed.
Through playful interaction with Yang Kai, the Divine Tree's consciousness was growing rapidly.
Another day passed, and when Yang Kai projected his soul avatar into the tree's heart, a crystal-clear thought reached him from ahead, welcoming his arrival. Almost immediately, the tree's consciousness rushed over and hovered before him, affectionately wrapping around him.
Yang Kai's expression froze. He stood stunned for a long while before tentatively sending a thought to the Divine Tree.
To his surprise, the tree only paused briefly before responding. The expression wasn't perfectly clear, but at the very least Yang Kai could now understand what it wanted to say.
A wide grin spread across Yang Kai's face. The Divine Tree's consciousness had finally been fully born.
After all this time of supplying it with Yang Liquid, it had successfully evolved into a new form of life. This being's emergence owed much to Yang Kai. While the tree could have eventually evolved on its own, he had undoubtedly accelerated the process by a great deal.
A deep sense of accomplishment welled up inside him.
It was like watching a child he had raised finally stand up on its own, progressing from babbling to taking its first stumbling steps.
Still, there was a great deal it still needed to learn.
Yang Kai immediately began feeding it knowledge, teaching it how to express its emotions and how to communicate with him properly. But the little creature was far too playful—compared to all that serious learning, it seemed much more interested in roughhousing with Yang Kai. How much it actually absorbed was anyone's guess.
Some time later, Yang Kai finally withdrew his soul avatar from the tree's heart and rubbed his aching forehead.
While he was still muttering to himself in exasperation, several branches suddenly extended toward him from the side. At the same time, a wave of divine thought surged into his mind, delivering a message.
Yang Kai looked up in surprise, gazing at the approaching branches. Clinging to each one were golden fruits.
"For me?" Yang Kai quickly responded.
The branches trembled lightly, as though nodding.
Yang Kai let out an amused laugh and shook his head. "I appreciate the gesture, but I can't take your fruits."
Below, powerful members of the Yang Clan were still keeping watch. If he actually took these fruits, there would be no end of trouble. Despite having coveted these energy-rich fruits saturated with potent Yang-attributed power from the very beginning, he had never once plucked a single one.
But the Divine Tree was utterly insistent. When Yang Kai refused, it stubbornly thrust the branches even closer, as though it would not rest until he accepted.
No matter how Yang Kai tried to persuade it, nothing worked. In the end, the fruits actually detached from the branches on their own and tumbled down into his arms.
Yang Kai's face darkened. He knew there was no way to explain this now.
The Divine Tree, for its part, seemed quite proud of itself, pulling the branches back and swaying in the breeze.
Yang Kai didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He looked at the six or seven fruits of varying maturity in his arms—putting them away felt wrong, putting them back felt wrong too. After a moment's thought, he simply leaped down from the trunk and gave a loud shout.
Sure enough, several Yang Clan experts who had been monitoring the area nearby came hurrying over. They were about to ask what was going on when they caught sight of the fruits in Yang Kai's arms. Every one of them flew into a rage.
"Brat, you dare steal the Divine Tree's fruit? You're courting death!" one of them snarled, his hair practically standing on end with fury. True Yuan surged from his body as he prepared to strike at any moment.
Yang Kai regarded him coldly and frowned. "I didn't steal them. They fell on their own."
"Bullshit! The Divine Tree's fruit can hang there for centuries without dropping, so long as nobody picks them. You've got quite the talent for lying through your teeth, brat."
"I said I didn't steal them, and I didn't. If I had, I would've eaten them already." Yang Kai couldn't be bothered to waste any more breath on them and simply tossed the fruits from his arms in their direction.
The men hurried to catch them, their expressions none too friendly.
The one who had spoken before let out a cold snort. "Don't think this gets you off the hook. We're reporting this to the leader and letting him decide your punishment!"
Yang Kai curled his lip, looking utterly unconcerned.