Li Yang looked at the Spirit Fruit before him, accepted it without hesitation, and said gratefully, "Thank you, Palace Master."

He could feel the abundant Spiritual Power within this Spirit Fruit!

And from the gazes of others, he could tell just how precious this Spirit Fruit was!

But his power was nothing compared to Shen Xuan’s. For now, all he could do was keep this kindness in his heart and hope for a chance to repay him in the future.

"Yes. Cultivate well," Shen Xuan said with a smile.

After the gift had been presented, the few foreign King Level Cultivators looked toward Shen Xuan with immense respect.

"Palace Master Shen Xuan, I was wondering, do you have any more Seven-Star Fruits?"

"The Divine Palace of the United States is willing to trade other Spirit Fruits with different effects for them."

The King Level Cultivators spoke with great eagerness.

Beside Li Yang, a rare trace of envy appeared on Shao Jie’s face. "Li Yang," he said, "it seems the Palace Master really holds you in high regard. Once you refine this Seven-Star Fruit, your power will jump to the upper-middle tier among Early King Level Cultivators, at the very least."

After all, over ninety percent of the King Level Cultivators in the world were stuck in the Early King Level, and Li Yang had only just broken through...

For a single fruit to allow him to surpass so many others showed just how precious this Spirit Fruit was.

"Haha, congratulations, Li Yang!"

"It might not be long before you break through to Mid-King Level and become one of the top twenty experts in the world, Li Yang!"

It wasn’t just Shao Jie; the other Cultivators also congratulated him with smiles, their eyes filled with envy.

Li Yang smiled and said, "Thank you."

He put away the Seven-Star Fruit, fighting the urge to refine it on the spot.

A joyous atmosphere filled the Celestial Origin Palace. But elsewhere in Jing City, a man stood with a cold, indifferent expression.

His face was a familiar one: the King Level Cultivator, Zheng Hu.

"Dad."

From a short distance away, Zheng Qian approached. "Inside the Celestial Origin Palace," he said, "the banquet celebrating Li Yang’s promotion to King Level Cultivator is underway. Palace Master Shen Xuan gave him a Seven-Star Fruit."

His expression was grim, and a hint of dark resentment flickered in his eyes when he mentioned Li Yang’s name.

He had tried to deal with Li Yang before, only to be thwarted time and again, and now he was a laughingstock to everyone.

"A Seven-Star Fruit?"

Zheng Hu’s expression was as placid as still water, but the corner of his mouth twisted into a cold sneer. "Let him enjoy his moment. It won’t last."

Ever since Li Yang had revealed himself as a Cultivator, he had climbed to his current position by stepping all over the Zheng family!

Hearing this, Zheng Qian’s eyes brightened. "Dad, the Token..."

"Yes, I’ve deciphered it," Zheng Hu said coolly. "According to the Token, the resources there will be enough for me to reach Mid-King Level at a minimum."

"That’s great, Dad."

At these words, Zheng Qian’s eyes lit up.

He knew exactly what Mid-King Level meant! Five times the strength of the Early King Level—enough to utterly crush an Early King Level Cultivator!

Out of two hundred King Level experts in the world, only twenty had reached Mid-King Level or higher! That showed just how significant it was!

And Zheng Hu had said he would reach Mid-King Level *at a minimum*, which meant he might even surpass it!

And beyond Mid-King Level was Late King Level!

There were only three Cultivators of that caliber on the entire planet!

Zheng Hu said coolly, "Li Yang was the one who discovered the Relic Space on that island. Little did he know, I would be the one to profit from it in the end."

Zheng Hu’s face was impassive, his heart as cold as ice.

No one knew that the Relic Space held a secret—a secret he now possessed.

He already knew that Li Yang had been rewarded with 500 contribution points for discovering the Relic Space.

But for the relic Li Yang had found, he, Zheng Hu, was the ultimate winner!

’Li Yang, I can’t wait for our next meeting. I wonder what your face will look like when you realize I’m the one who seized the greatest opportunity from that Relic Space...’

Zheng Hu sneered inwardly.

Li Yang had used the three members of the Zheng family as stepping stones to rapidly reach his current, celebrated status—he had ascended to a divine pedestal in the eyes of the masses!

And at their next meeting, he would be the one to knock Li Yang right off it!

...

After the celebration at Celestial Origin Palace ended, Li Yang didn’t leave. Instead, he remained in one of the rooms.

’Time to start refining!’

He held a white fruit in his hand. It was the Seven-Star Fruit!

He activated his Cultivation Technique, and a stream of energy was instantly drawn from the fruit, surging into his body!

’Such dense energy!’

As he felt it, an expression of immense, pleasant surprise appeared in Li Yang’s eyes.

The most Spiritual Power he’d ever absorbed before was from the Seven-Colored Orchid Fruit he’d found at Xinhu Square. That single fruit had boosted him from Mid-Earth-Level straight to Celestial Level!

The Spirit Fruits he found later in the Relic Space had all been damaged; it had taken more than a dozen of them for him to reach King Level. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

Comparatively, the Spiritual Power from those damaged fruits was inferior to that of the Seven-Colored Orchid Fruit.

But now, Li Yang could feel that the Spiritual Power in the Seven-Star Fruit was at least several dozen times greater than that of the Seven-Colored Orchid Fruit!

BOOM!

Overjoyed, Li Yang channeled his Cultivation Technique with all his might.

Dense energy poured into him. Even though he had already reached Early King Level, he could feel his physical body slowly growing stronger—a change he could perceive with absolute clarity!

Spiritual Power seeped into his flesh and blood. His blood then carried the energy throughout his system, tempering his entire body...

The absorption process continued for over ten minutes before Li Yang finally stopped.

The white Seven-Star Fruit was now shriveled, all of its Spiritual Power gone.

’My power in the Early King Level has jumped by a full third!’ Li Yang sensed his new strength, his eyes flashing with excitement.

Before this, he had estimated that by just absorbing the world’s natural energy, it would take him over a year to reach Mid-King Level!

Previously, even without consuming any Spirit Fruits, it had only taken him four months to go from Human-Level to the Peak of Heaven-level!

One could only imagine the immense amount of energy required to advance from Early to Mid-King Level!

And now, his power had jumped by a third, saving him more than four months of cultivation!

His Cultivation Technique was extraordinarily potent, yet it would still take him four months. Others would probably need at least ten years!

A single Spirit Fruit had saved him ten years of cultivation!

’No wonder those foreign King Level Cultivators were so desperate to buy a Seven-Star Fruit from Palace Master Shen Xuan!’

This kind of Spirit Fruit contained an incredible amount of Spiritual Power!

By his estimation, if an ordinary person could fully refine and absorb this fruit, they could become a King Level Cultivator overnight!

’If I had two more of these, could I break through to Mid-King Level?’ Li Yang wondered in anticipation.

There were only twenty people in the entire world at Mid-King Level. Of course he craved that power.

Then, Li Yang shook his head.

’Forget it. I shouldn’t dwell on it. Even without more Seven-Star Fruits, I’ll reach Mid-King Level in just over half a year. I can wait that long!’

In just over half a year, Li Yang would become one of the top twenty experts on the planet! That was a timeframe he could certainly accept.