Chapter 5496: Old Tree 20 years went by in a flash. Over the past 20 years, Yang Kai travelled to hundreds of Great Territories and accumulated over 2,000 World Beads. Each World Bead was a complete Universe World with its Seven Elements, Will, and World Principles intact. The number of Humans he had saved was difficult to calculate. But this was already the limit. There were still many Great Territories Yang Kai had yet to set foot in, but now that 20 years had passed since the Black Ink Clan’s full-scale invasion began, it was difficult for him to find any Universe World that had not been devoured by Black Ink Strength. The Black Ink Clan could be found in every Great Territory, and almost every Universe World that had a living being on it had a Black Ink Nest planted on it. Countless mortals and cultivators with low cultivations had been reduced to Black Ink Disciples, and the World Force each Universe World had accumulated over countless aeons had been reduced to nourishment for the Black Ink Clan. Of the tens of millions of Small Stone Race soldiers he started with, Yang Kai was now left with less than 10 million, the rest were all given away to others. Over the past 20 years, the number of Black Ink Clansmen who had lost their lives at Yang Kai’s hands was also incalculable, with just the number of Territory Lords who had died at the end of his spear reaching over a dozen. Now, with only one Royal Lord left alive, and the two Black Ink Giant Spiritual Gods being occupied, the Territory Lords were the top Masters of the Black Ink Clan. Be that as it may, if any of these Innate Territory Lords ran into Yang Kai alone, they would only be courting death. Even if there were two or three of them, Yang Kai was confident he could eliminate them after paying a price. In these 20 years, those who should have evacuated had already evacuated, and those who couldn’t leave could only stay and bear the fate of being turned into Black Ink Disciples. Yang Kai estimated that the cultivators who had evacuated from the various Great Territories should have all reached the Star Boundary by now. He knew in his heart that this mission to save the remaining Humans of the 3,000 Worlds had come to an end. Even if he continued, it would just be a fruitless endeavour. Looking at the dim stars in the void and the Universe Worlds enveloped in Black Ink Strength, a heavy sigh escaped Yang Kai’s lips as he shouted, “Old Tree, do you still want to hide? I think it’s time we meet!” As soon as he finished speaking, a mysterious change started to occur in this Great Territory. Immediately after, a rolling fog appeared in the distance and swept towards Yang Kai. Seeing this fog, Yang Kai knew that his guess was correct! 20 years ago, when he refined the Profound Abundant World, he had a vague guess in his heart. But at that time, he hadn’t refined enough Universe Worlds, so whether this conjecture was just his imagination or if it was true, he still had to verify it. Over the past 20 years, he had refined more than 2,000 Universe Worlds, which was more than enough to confirm his previous speculations. Because every time he refined a Universe World, he would sense an invisible connection with that unknown place. After refining more than 2,000 Universe Worlds, this connection had become pretty strong; so, even if the other party didn’t respond, Yang Kai still had a way to force his way into this unknown place. The rolling fog soon arrived before him and Yang Kai allowed it to envelop him, concealing his figure. When the fog dissipated, Yang Kai’s figure was nowhere to be found. When he reappeared, Yang Kai was already in a mysterious place that was difficult for ordinary people to reach. There happened to be some kind of suppression in this mysterious place, preventing anyone from completely displaying the might of the Open Heaven Realm, no matter what one’s Order was. The Great Ancient Ruins Boundary! When Yang Kai was just an Emperor Realm Master, he had been swept up by a mysterious fog and thrown into this Sealed World. It was in this Sealed World he got his hands on a World Tree clone, which he used to save the Star Boundary that was on the verge of shattering. It was also from here that he brought out the Heavenly Moon Demon Spider, Zhu Jiu Yin. According to Cang, the World Tree was one of the most ancient existences in the Universe. In the past, the 10 Martial Ancestors had relied on the World Tree to comprehend the mysteries of the Open Heaven Realm, which they later passed down to the wider Human Race, allowing it to gain a foothold in the Universe where the Monster Race ran rampant. The people who obtained the favour of the World Tree were also a means of protection for the mysterious Heavenly Way. Cang’s group of 10 were chosen by the Heavenly Way, and they had sealed Mo in the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction for millions of years. If not for their actions, how could the current 3,000 Worlds still exist? Perhaps the entire Universe would have become the Black Ink Clan’s paradise eons ago. After Cang’s group, there were likely more candidates. The World Tree clone in Yang Kai’s Small Universe also belonged to a previous candidate who had fallen ages ago. As for Yang Kai himself, he should have been chosen recently. This method of self-preservation was seemingly performed through the World Tree, so no matter what, the World Tree was an indispensable and important link. Mo had said that the Old Tree had always been hiding from it, afraid of it. In the past, Yang Kai didn’t know what Mo meant by this. Both of them were among the most ancient of existences, so although Mo’s strength was hard to imagine, how could it be that the World Tree was weak? Why would it hide? Now, Yang Kai finally understood. Because the World Tree was a direct manifestation of the entire 3,000 Worlds. The relationship between the World Tree and the 3,000 Worlds was one of mutual destruction and prosperity. Mo’s existence had severely threatened the survival of the 3,000 Worlds. If Mo really ruled over 3,000 Worlds, then Black Ink Strength would be everywhere, and every Universe World would die. At that time, the World Tree would also be completely destroyed. Inside the Great Ancient Ruins Boundary, Yang Kai, who was swept up by the rolling fog, looked up and saw a towering tree in front of him. Compared to the World Tree Yang Kai had seen in the past, this one was far larger and more majestic. The tree was absolutely filled with World Fruits. But different from the past, the current World Tree seemed to be seriously ill, looking very weak and sickly. Many of the World Fruits hanging on the World Tree were gray, as if they had rotted. Yang Kai could even feel Black Ink Strength coming from these fruits! He had actually witnessed this scene before. When he used his Sun and Moon Divine Wheel just outside the Great Sea Celestial Phenomenon, Space and Time became chaotic, allowing Yang Kai to glimpse into the future. One of the scenes was of him holding the head of the Royal Lord. And the other scene was of a large, sickly tree filled with rotting fruits! Yang Kai stared blankly for a long time before a sigh escaped his lips, “Old Tree, you’re quite pitiful!” The World Tree’s body swayed slightly as its huge leaves rustled, looking like it was protesting Yang Kai’s ridicule. Yang Kai quickly stated, “Don’t get agitated, each of these fruits corresponds to a Universe World. If you shake them off, it won’t be a good thing.” When he first came here, Yang Kai’s strength, vision, and insight were all too shallow, so he only knew that the World Fruits could help a person break through to the next Order of the Open Heaven Realm. He was totally oblivious to the true mysteries of these World Fruits. Now, after reaching the Eighth Order, having refined more than 2,000 Universe Worlds scattered across hundreds of Great Territories, and coming into contact with ancient Supreme Masters like Mo and Cang, how could Yang Kai not see the profundities of these fruits? As he had just said, each of these World Fruits corresponded to a Universe World in some Great Territory, and was the Source of those very Universe Worlds. It could be said that the World Tree was connected to all the Universe Worlds in the 3,000 Worlds. It was precisely the convergence of these Universe Worlds that had given birth to the World Tree. Now that these Universe Worlds had been devoured by Black Ink Strength and occupied by the Black Ink Clan, it had affected the World Tree, making it and those World Fruits appear sick. If a certain Universe World was completely destroyed, the corresponding World Fruit would also cease to exist. Vice versa, if a new Universe World was born, the World Tree would bear a new fruit. Yang Kai finally understood why the World Fruits had such potent effects. This was because these World Fruits contained the mysteries and essences of an entire Universe World. A Low-Rank World Fruit corresponded to a world with a low level of Martial Dao, a Mid-Rank World Fruit corresponded to a world with a mid-grade Martial Dao, and a High-Rank World Fruit corresponded to a high-grade Universe World, the best possible. Such Universe Worlds might be where the various Cave Heavens and Paradises resided. If someone were to pick a World Fruit and swallow it, what they were actually eating was not the fruit itself, but the essence of the Universe World. So naturally, this would rapidly increase their strength and even increase their Order. But as a result of this, the Martial Dao of the corresponding Universe World and even the perfection of its World Principles would be greatly affected, taking thousands, if not tens of thousands of years to recover. A Universe World with sufficient Martial Dao would have its own Principles and Will. These Wills could be said to have come from the Universe World itself, but they could also be considered the wisps of the World Tree’s consciousness. The Great Emperors of every Universe World had obtained the acknowledgement of their respective World’s Wills, but at its root, it was really the World Tree who had acknowledged them. As such, every time Yang Kai refined a Universe World, he would gain the approval of the World Tree, allowing him to sense the latter’s existence. Yang Kai had not understood these mysteries previously, but now he got the complete picture. If 3,000 worlds were completely occupied by the Black Ink Clan, the World Tree would definitely perish! Currently, only about 20% of the fruits on the tree remained intact, with most of them corresponding to the World Beads Yang Kai had refined. After pondering for a moment, Yang Kai waved his hand as over 100 World Beads refined from Universe Worlds flew out. Each of the World Beads looked like a glorious pearl; a magnificent sight indeed. As soon as these World Beads appeared, each of them resonated with a World Fruit and disappeared into them. The World Bead had not really disappeared, but had instead become one with the fruit. It did not affect the living beings inside the World Beads either, and when peace had returned to the 3,000 Worlds once more, when the Black Ink Clan was eliminated, the World Tree would be able to send these World Beads back to the corresponding Great Territory, so that they could regain their former prosperity. Yang Kai was just giving it a try; after all, it was quite troublesome and risky to carry so many World Beads on him. The World Beads might look small, but as each World was formed from a Universe World, they were actually quite massive in size. It was impossible for him to store them into his Small Universe or Space Ring, so Yang Kai could only sew together a huge backpack to carry them that way. All these years, Yang Kai had been carrying a bag filled with World Beads on his back, which was extremely inconvenient Now that he had discovered that these World Fruits could accommodate the corresponding Universe World, it naturally saved him a lot of trouble.