Back in the day, Ye Zhen uprooted the Spirit Void Fruit Tree of the Three-eyed Demon Clan, then sealed it inside the Mirage Dragon Pearl. It neither grows nor withers there.
Besides, Ye Zhen harvested over a million Spirit Void Fruits.
Upon tallying, Ye Zhen found the total Spirit Void Fruit count to be over 1,073,000.
The number of Spirit Void Fruits Ye Zhen has sold over the years is negligible.
From the ones used for cultivation by Jinghai, Sea-breaking, and Great Sage of the Overturning Sea, to those used for Liao Feibai and later for Ling Qianbi and Big Ears Nie Ting, the consumption was minimal.
Even when they have been cultivating inside the Mirage Dragon Pearl for over twenty years, the average consumption per person is only around ten to twenty thousand.
Ye Zhen himself did not consume more than twenty thousand Spirit Void Fruits in total.
The largest consumer of Spirit Void Fruits is in fact the kitten.
To advance the kitten’s bloodline, it consumed over four hundred thousand Spirit Void Fruits.
If this were disclosed, it would surely shock martial artists worldwide with such a staggering number.
Aside from this, the Nine-headed Beast consumed about one hundred thousand fruits, though the effect was not substantial.
Considering other minor consumptions, Ye Zhen still has over four hundred thirty thousand Spirit Void Fruits.
After careful deliberation, Ye Zhen decided on this number.
This treasure shouldn’t be released en masse into the market; doing so would only cause the price to collapse.
Yet, keeping it hoarded without use would reduce it to waste.
Ye Zhen always believed that whether it’s silver, spirit stones, or heavenly materials and earthly treasures, their value is realized only when spent or used.
Otherwise, keeping them as collectibles renders them as worthless as scrap.
Ye Zhen has been contemplating how to unleash the value of the remaining over four hundred thousand Spirit Void Fruits; originally, Ye Zhen planned to dump it all on the Nine-headed Beast and see how much it would improve.
However, Mirage Dragon Primordial Spirit Achou didn’t agree with Ye Zhen’s view.
Achou pointed out that although the Nine-headed Beast still has room for improvement, forty thousand Spirit Void Fruits aren’t enough for its bloodline upgrade.
The reason is simple: the Nine-headed Beast has nine heads, each with distinct attributes and spiritual powers.
This causes the Spirit Void Fruits needed for its bloodline enhancement to exponentially increase, nearly nine times that of other demon beasts.
Although the Nine-headed Beast’s bloodline refinement and upgrade are not as challenging as Cloud Winged Tiger King Kitten’s, given it’s nearly nine times the consume rate of other ancient fierce beasts, forty thousand Spirit Void Fruits are definitely insufficient.
In other words, spending forty thousand Spirit Void Fruits on the Nine-headed Beast would not yield significant results.
Which makes Ye Zhen a bit troubled.
But Mirage Dragon Primordial Spirit Achou gave Ye Zhen a hint, "Why not try placing them all on the Big Sister instead?"
"Big Sister?"
"You mean the Little Demon?"
Ye Zhen’s expression was a bit dismayed, "Can the Little Demon also consume Spirit Void Fruits?"
Ye Zhen always thought that the Little Demon, possessing the nature of a Wood Demon, couldn’t consume Spirit Void Fruits, hence no attempts were made.
"Why not?"
"Big Sister can suck even martial arts experts dry, let alone a tiny Spirit Void Fruit! Besides, given Big Sister’s innate abilities, her speed of absorbing and refining Spirit Void Fruits is much faster than the others."
After careful persuasion by the Little Demon, even in private talks with Ye Zhen, Mirage Dragon Primordial Spirit Achou now refers to the Little Demon as Big Sister.
"Then how many Spirit Void Fruits do you estimate the Little Demon would need before a noticeable enhancement?" Ye Zhen asked with some curiosity. "I mean, Achou, despite the way the Little Demon usually treats you, how come you suggest improving her strength?"
Upon hearing this, Mirage Dragon Primordial Spirit Achou rolled a big eye at Ye Zhen, "I say, Lord Ye, don’t be so narrow-minded, okay?"
Ye Zhen felt quite helpless hearing this; he’s being called narrow-minded for merely expressing curiosity?
"Lord Ye, Big Sister may often give me a hard time, but she doesn’t mean any harm, you understand? Moreover, Big Sister actually upholds your authority.
Counting on it, Master and you, Lord Ye, are now essentially a life-bound unity; your well-being is mine, right?
If you perish, I won’t have pleasant days ahead either.
Enhancing Big Sister’s strength equates to boosting my security factor, why not do it?" As he spoke, Mirage Dragon Primordial Spirit Achou glanced disdainfully at Ye Zhen.
Ye Zhen felt frustrated, saying one more sentence made him a villain.
"As for how many Spirit Void Fruits Big Sis needs to be effective, it’s hard to say. Big Sis’s bloodline is itself a collection of several Ancient Giant Spirit Tree Demons, and she has Creation Power within, so it’s hard to determine.
But it’s definitely more promising to invest in Big Sis than in that Nine-Headed Beast fellow."
"Then let’s use the Little Demon!"
Ye Zhen made his decision.
In fact, Ye Zhen hadn’t considered it before. Since making the decision, Ye Zhen found that the Little Demon’s speed in consuming Spirit Void Fruits was astonishing.
Hundreds of Spirit Void Fruits were devoured by the Little Demon in the blink of an eye and then refined within the Mirage Dragon Pearl Sequential Space.
This dialogue between Ye Zhen and the Mirage Dragon Primordial Spirit Achou happened while Ye Zhen was still in Yizhi Sand Sea, engaged in disaster relief.
That year, the Little Demon, who was constantly involved in disaster relief, refined Spirit Void Fruits whenever there was an opportunity.
After saving a tribe, the Little Demon would devour a batch of Spirit Void Fruits and then hide within the Mirage Dragon Pearl Sequential Space, turning what was originally just an hour of rest into half a day of use.
Despite the efforts, the results were evident.
As of yesterday, the number of Spirit Void Fruits devoured by the Little Demon had already exceeded 390,000.
The remaining Spirit Void Fruits in Ye Zhen’s hands were now less than 40,000, and recently, Ye Zhen had already proactively reduced the supply of Spirit Void Fruits to the Little Demon.
After all, a portion of Spirit Void Fruits must be kept for personal use; at critical moments, Spirit Void Fruits have considerable trading value.
Logically speaking, after the Little Demon devoured these 390,000 Spirit Void Fruits, there should have been a notable change in her bloodline.
However, neither Ye Zhen nor the Little Demon herself observed any significant changes in the bloodline.
This left Ye Zhen somewhat disappointed.
Yet despite the disappointment, the Little Demon herself mentioned that just recently, after devouring the 390,000th Spirit Void Fruit, some mysterious changes occurred within her body.
Nevertheless, she couldn’t articulate what the change was, only basically confirming that it related to her previous devouring ability.
These days, Ye Zhen has been busy, looking for opportunities to observe any specific changes in the Little Demon but has yet to find one.
But today, after rescuing Chi Ling’er, Ye Zhen directly used the Wish Power of All Living Beings to critically injure Hu Buding, creating an almost perfect devouring opportunity for the Little Demon.
Ye Zhen just wanted to see, after the Little Demon devoured 390,000 Spirit Void Fruits, what kind of change occurred in her devouring ability.
Thus, after pulverizing Hu Buding’s chance to escape with Primordial Spirit by using the Evil Punishing Divine Thunder, Ye Zhen fully activated his Primordial Spirit Power, carefully observing the Little Demon’s devouring process, trying to see what changes happened in her devouring ability.
Hu Buding’s spiritual power aura was rapidly weakening, the speed much quicker compared to the previous devouring ability.
Moreover, previously, the Little Demon needed to rely on the thirty-six Plum Blossom Essence-Stealing Needles refined from Ancient Divine Tree Root by Ye Zhen to devour the Essence, Qi, and Spirit contained in spiritual power and flesh.
But now, each vine of the Little Demon had devouring capability.
Even without those thirty-six Plum Blossom Essence-Stealing Needles, the Little Demon could devour the enemy’s power just the same.
The only pity is that both Ye Zhen’s and the Little Demon’s powers are currently at a bottleneck, unable to enhance cultivation.
The devoured power cannot fundamentally elevate Ye Zhen’s and the Little Demon’s cultivation, but it’s not useless.
Ye Zhen let the Little Demon dump the powerful cultivation devoured from Hu Buding, in one go, into the Mirage Dragon Pearl Space to impact the Sixth Stage Spatial Sealing Barrier of the Mirage Dragon Pearl.
The Sixth Stage Spatial Sealing Barrier of the Mirage Dragon Pearl was incomparably strong. Previously, Ye Zhen had also made efforts, even having people within the Mirage Dragon Pearl try moves, all directing the attacks at the Sixth Stage Spatial Sealing Barrier of the Mirage Dragon Pearl.
However, the results were minimal, the Sixth Stage Spatial Sealing Barrier barely moved, essentially unaffected.
The power level is insufficient.
Just like using a wooden sword to cut an iron board, however many wooden swords, they can’t shatter the iron board.
For the short term, Ye Zhen can’t see the hope of breaking open the Sixth Stage Spatial Sealing Barrier of the Mirage Dragon Pearl. Even the Mirage Dragon Primordial Spirit Achou can’t estimate an accurate range.
But today is different.
Hu Buding’s power, whether in quality or quantity, is sufficient. When swallowed by the Little Demon and struck against the Sixth Stage Spatial Sealing Barrier of the Mirage Dragon Pearl, the barrier that Ye Zhen had worked hard to move previously began to slowly dissolve.
"Achou, you are the Artifact Spirit of the Mirage Dragon Pearl; you know how thick this Sixth Stage Spatial Sealing Barrier is. With this kind of power, how much is needed to completely break open the Sixth Stage Spatial Sealing Barrier?" Ye Zhen asked.
Achou closed his eyes to sense, "That part is sealed, so my sensing is somewhat vague, but there is a general estimate.
With the current power strength and the total cultivation of Hu Buding, if you could gather a hundred such Peak Early Stage Dao Realm experts like Hu Buding, then blast all their power onto the Sixth Stage Spatial Sealing Barrier, it could potentially break open the Sixth Stage Spatial Sealing Barrier.
"Hmm, the estimated margin of error should be no more than twenty percent."
"Twenty percent error?"
Ye Zhen nodded, feeling more confident.
A twenty percent error margin meant at most the combined strength of one hundred and twenty Peak of Early Dao Realm experts. Dealing with such a mass of Dao Realm experts would be challenging but not impossible.
At least, it gave Ye Zhen a goal to strive for.
Because, according to his master, Lud Li, the sealing barrier’s capacity of the Mirage Dragon Pearl, the further the layers, the stronger it becomes.
Moreover, once the barriers beyond the Sixth Stage are opened, he might acquire a portion of what his master had collected back then.
Master Lud Li was among the top few existences in all the Heavens and Myriads of Worlds, so one can only imagine the magnitude of his collection.
After getting a general understanding and grasp of breaking through the Sixth Stage Spatial Sealing of the Mirage Dragon Pearl, Ye Zhen turned his attention back to the abilities of the Little Demon.
To be honest, Ye Zhen was still slightly disappointed so far.
Simply enhancing the speed and method of devouring Spiritual Power without the aid of the thirty-six Plum Blossom Essence-Stealing Needles didn’t seem much improvement or practical use.
However, it was only a little bit of disappointment.
Ye Zhen treated the Little Demon as if it were his own child, regardless of how much he invested. Even if there was no improvement, he wouldn’t blame the Little Demon.
Ye Zhen only felt a little regret that if he had completely refined that World Fragment of the All Heavens Small World, his cultivation would break through to the Realm King Realm.
With the help of the Little Demon, he could devour and convert a portion of Hu Buding’s cultivation into his own.
With Hu Buding’s Peak of Early Dao Realm cultivation, even if only one or two tenths could be converted, the increase could be terrifying, possibly raising the cultivation several stages at once.
However, the time needed to refine the All Heavens World Fragment was lengthy, and the Little Demon currently was stuck at the peak of the Ninth Stage of the Realm King Realm, thus he could only use Hu Buding’s massive pure cultivation to bombard the Sixth Stage Spatial Sealing Barrier of the Mirage Dragon Pearl.
Adhering to the principle of not wasting anything, Ye Zhen with a thought, summoned out the War Soul Blood Flag.
Hu Buding’s Primordial Spirit Power was a great nourishment for the War Soul Blood Flag.
Ye Zhen planned to accumulate the War Soul Blood Flag during this period to see if there was a chance for his Demon Marshal’s Avatar to break through to the Dao Realm.
As his Divine Sense moved, the War Soul Blood Flag flashed with Blood Light, intending to directly refine Hu Buding’s Primordial Spirit, but just before the War Soul Blood Flag’s Blood Light could flash out, Hu Buding’s Primordial Spirit suddenly let out a heartrending scream and disintegrated on the spot.
The Blood Light from the War Soul Blood Flag only managed to collect a sporadic amount of yet-to-be fully disintegrated Primordial Spirit power.
This left Ye Zhen dumbfounded.
It was then discovered that the Little Demon’s thirty-six green Plum Blossom Essence-Stealing Needles were all nailed to Hu Buding’s Primordial Spirit location.
Ye Zhen was greatly surprised that the Little Demon could damage the Primordial Spirit of a Dao Realm martial artist, but simply relying on devouring ability, the Little Demon had no way to directly cause the disintegration of a Dao Realm martial artist’s Primordial Spirit.
But the problem was, the Little Demon did it.
"Little Demon, how did you cause Hu Buding’s Primordial Spirit to disintegrate....?"
Just as Ye Zhen was about to ask, a sensation of indescribable throbbing suddenly emanated from within him.
It was a sensation akin to facing the ancient, eternal power of the heavens and stars, making Ye Zhen unable to directly confront it.
Like the brilliance of the sun, unyielding to direct gaze, yet now it made Ye Zhen feel overwhelmingly close but incredibly terrified.
This aura, Ye Zhen was all too familiar with.
Dao Realm!
This was the unique aura of a Dao Realm expert.
Almost simultaneously, the creatures inside Ye Zhen’s Xuan Palace also sensed this aura and were awakened.
"My ancestor, Lord Ye, have you broken through to the Dao Realm? But you’re still in the Dark Palace Realm, isn’t this unreasonable..."
"Breaking through the Dao Realm? Ye kid, your way of breaking through the Dao Realm is rather bizarre?"
The Artifact Spirit of the Thunder Light Pearl, usually silent, now seemed eager, while the Innate Bone-attached Phosphorus Fire Spirit within the previously fierce Bone-attached Poison Flame Pearl now showed a trace of fear.
"I’ve broken through to the Dao Realm, why don’t I feel anything?" Ye Zhen looked dumbfounded.
"Ah, it’s the Little Demon...." Suddenly, Ye Zhen sensed the source of the Dao Realm aura within him was rooted in the Yimu Spiritual Vein where the Little Demon resided.
Then Ye Zhen felt as if struck by lightning.
As for the Mirage Dragon Primordial Spirit, Achou, it became petrified.
The big sis broke through to the Dao Realm? His Sixth Stage Sealing Barrier seemed far off from being broken, it looked like he would remain a sorry grandson for a long time.
As for the Nine-Headed Beast, it was already accustomed, big sis was just big sis.
"No, it’s not the Little Leaf breaking through, this Dao Realm aura originates somewhere within him, it’s the Little Demon...."
Almost at that instant, the aura of the Little Demon, having just broken through to the Dao Realm, began to rapidly stabilize and enhance.
Without Ye Zhen’s order, the Little Demon had already stopped channeling the devoured Hu Buding’s cultivation into the Sixth Stage Spatial Sealing Barrier of the Mirage Dragon Pearl, instead converting it into its own cultivation.
Having broken through to the Dao Realm, the Little Demon’s cultivation could now ascend.
However, Ye Zhen was full of questions at this moment.
Earlier, Wang Baimu and Hu Buding were fighting here, and with validations from previous Martial Arts Secret Scrolls, finally, they stepped through the door of the Dao Realm.
But this Small World was incomplete, unable to allow Wang Baimu to fully comprehend that thin strand of Heaven and Earth Laws to break through to the Dao Realm.
Only by leaving this incomplete Small World, returning to a world with complete Heaven and Earth Laws, could Wang Baimu immediately breakthrough to the Dao Realm.
So the question arises, how could the Little Demon break through so quickly in this incomplete Small World?
This isn’t scientific at all.
Something must have been overlooked.
Ye Zhen realized, he must have overlooked something!
Suddenly, Ye Zhen thought of the previous anomaly. Why were the Little Demon’s thirty-six Plum Blossom Essence-Stealing Needles nailed into Hu Buding’s Primordial Spirit location?
Why did Hu Buding’s Primordial Spirit suddenly disintegrate?
"Could it be?"
"Damn, big sis’s fortune...." Mirage Dragon Primordial Spirit Achou, after understanding something, felt somewhat dejected and frustrated.
He understood that he and the Little Demon couldn’t fight internally, and with the Little Demon’s current overwhelming strength, he could only endure.
But, he longed for a day to rise again.
When the subsequent layers of the Mirage Dragon Pearl, such as the Sixth Stage Sealing Barrier, were broken, his power would be unsealed correspondingly, offering him a chance to rise.
However, the problem was, now that big sis had acquired a capability thought to be heaven-defying, his time to rise might have been postponed, potentially until the Seventh or even Eighth Stage Spatial Sealing Barrier was unlocked for him to possibly rise.
However, he should have anticipated it earlier. Indeed, big sis might awaken such a talent since the Tree Demon lineage was an anomaly among the Demon Race.
Nevertheless, he did not regret!
Seeing Achou’s gloomy and troubled look, Ye Zhen became anxious. It was evident that Achou knew what had occurred with the Little Demon.
And Ye Zhen, although having guessed something, was still a bit off.
"Achou, speak up, what has changed in the Little Demon’s Bloodline? If you don’t tell me, I’ll strike you several hundred times with this Evil Punishing Divine Thunder!"
"Dammit, big sis might have hit the jackpot this time."
"After big sis consumed thirty-nine thousand Spirit Void Fruits, she might have elevated her devouring skill, the innate divine ability, to an immensely terrifying level." Achou said dispiritedly.
"To an immensely terrifying level? Explain clearly?" Ye Zhen was quite dissatisfied, with Evil Punishing Divine Thunder crackling in his palm as a threat.
"Previously, big sis could only devour another’s Spiritual Power and Essence Blood, but now, after consuming thirty-nine thousand Spirit Void Fruits to temper her Bloodline, I suspect big sis can directly devour the Heaven and Earth Law power painstakingly cultivated by others."
"What?"
"Directly devour the Heaven and Earth Law power painstakingly cultivated by others?" Ye Zhen glanced at the Little Demon, whose cultivation was continuously increasing, and then at Achou, feeling a sense of unreality.
This capability is indeed....
"Exactly, only with such capability can it be explained why big sis could directly breakthrough to the Dao Realm in this incomplete Small World!
Breaking through to the Dao Realm not only requires the embedding of the Heavenly Dao but also understanding and mastering a trace of Heaven and Earth Law power!" Achou explained.

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