Lin Ru Song said, “Supreme Commander, this Old Master has gotten on in age and all those years living in seclusion have stripped me of my spirit to strive further. Although I was lucky enough to receive the qualification to enter the Profound Heavens Temple, I’m afraid I don’t stand much chance of success. Why don’t I give my qualification to Sir Yang instead? Sir Yang is a rising star, young and strong. Not to mention, he inherited Senior Bright Moon’s legacy. This Old Master is sure he will achieve great things if he enters the Profound Heavens Temple. Supreme Commander, please also enter the Profound Heavens Temple and preside over the overall situation there.”
As soon as the words left his mouth, all the Masters turned their eyes to him in astonishment, but soon their astonishment transformed into profound respect.
It was true that he was no longer young; but even so, he was far from approaching the end of his life, he simply looked elderly on the outside. As a Pseudo-Great Emperor, he still had a long life ahead of him; therefore, his willingness to give up his spot at this time was undoubtedly his way of trying to bring a peaceful resolution to this situation. It was just that the cost was far too great.
Everyone else knew that they did not have the courage to do what he did, so how could they not respect him for it? Even Cang Mo, who was trying to cause trouble for Yang Kai, frowned with a troubled expression. He had targeted Yang Kai for personal grievances, while on the other hand, Lin Ru Song had sacrificed his own interests for the sake of the greater good. Comparing the two made Cang Mo seem as though he was a petty and small-minded man.
Even Fu Zhun’s generally cold gaze became considerably warmer and gentler when she looked at Lin Ru Song. Generally, most Pseudo-Great Emperors would rack their brains to obtain a spot among the quota. It was rare to see a person taking the initiative to give up the qualification they previously obtained. Such a mindset was difficult for an ordinary person to achieve.
Li Wu Yi smiled, “I have received your kind intentions, Sir Lin. It is just that the two Elders and I have discussed this matter in advance. There are many things that the two Elders cannot directly interfere with in the Star Boundary, so I need to stay behind and take charge of matters here. That is why I won’t be able to step away no matter what.” He paused for a moment before cupping his fists, “Regardless, many thanks, Sir Lin!”
Lin Ru Song sighed upon hearing those words, “Sir Li’s righteousness is an example to us all. This Old Master respects you!”
Li Wu Yi said, “I also admire your noble spirit, Sir Lin.”
What originally started as an attack targeting Yang Kai was peacefully diffused with Lin Ru Song’s appearance. The old man would rather give up his qualification to settle matters peacefully, so if Cang Mo still refused to back down now, he would be too unappreciative of the old man’s kindness.
“Does anybody else have any objections?” Zhu Yan swept his gaze over the crowd, and no one made a sound.
“In that case, be sure to support each other when you enter the Profound Heavens Temple. Avoid internal conflict. This Old Master will be waiting for your good news upon your return.” He gently nodded. He knew that once they entered the Profound Heavens Temple, it was impossible to completely avoid any internal strife. Even if this group of people from the Star Boundary ruthlessly killed all the Demon Saints from the Demon Realm, it would still end in a fierce struggle between evenly matched opponents.
There was only one vacant spot to become a Great Emperor when the Profound Heavens Temple opened this time and the only way to compete for that spot was through bloody slaughter; therefore, the Pseudo-Great Emperors in the Star Boundary had to maintain a relationship between allies and comrades-in-arms until all the Demon Race Half-Saints were eliminated.
While the discussion between the participants from the Star Boundary was happening, the Demon Race’s side was gradually gathering as well. Numerous figures brimming with Demon Qi appeared behind the three Demon Saints.
Yang Kai lifted his gaze and looked over in their direction with a frown. It was obvious that the number of Half-Saints dispatched by the Demon Realm was greater than the Pseudo-Great Emperors of the Star Boundary. That was within his expectations, however, as the Demon Race had always held an absolute advantage when it came to their number of Masters. That was the case for the Great Emperors and Demon Saints, as well as the Pseudo-Great Emperors and Half-Saints. The reason was that the Demon Realm was much larger than the Star Boundary, so the capacity of its World’s bottle was also greater. In addition, the Demon Race had the Myriad Demon Pills which allowed their high-level Masters to cultivate faster and more efficiently.
Fortunately, the Demon Race seemed to have the same concerns as the Star Boundary and did not dare to dispatch all of their Half-Saints. Hence, although their numbers were slightly greater than the Star Boundary, it was not an outrageous difference. The Demon Realm had roughly 40 participants, which was still within an acceptable range. It was most likely an arrangement specially set up to deal with the line-up of the Star Boundary.
“Be careful of that Corpse Demon,” Li Wu Yi suddenly sent a secret Divine Sense transmission to Yang Kai.
Yang Kai followed Li Wu Yi’s gaze and saw a Corpse Demon standing in front of the Demon Race Half-Saint camp. The Corpse Demon was looking in this direction with a grim smile. His skin appeared to be dark blue in colour and his fangs were exposed at the edge of his mouth. Moreover, palm-length spikes were sticking out of his exposed skin like steel needles all over his body. He had a terrifying and menacing air about him.
“Jia Long?” Yang Kai raised his brow slightly. Having lived in the Demon Realm for many years, he had a better grasp on the Demon Race’s information than anyone else in the Star Boundary. Even if he had not met all the Half-Saints in the Demon Realm, he had heard all of their names at least. Thus, he could immediately guess the identity of the Corpse Demon after hearing what Li Wu Yi said.
“En,” Li Wu Yi gently nodded. “He ranks first among the Demon Race Half-Saints in terms of strength. I’ve fought him twice. He is a very difficult opponent. Be careful if you run into him.”
Yang Kai gently nodded in response.
There was not much time left, so Li Wu Yi quickly pointed out the Half-Saints of the Demon Race that required special attention to Yang Kai. Those Half-Saints were those that Li Wu Yi thought might pose a threat to Yang Kai’s life; hence, Yang Kai carefully committed them all to memory.
On the other hand, Jia Long seemed to hold great prejudice against Li Wu Yi. He had been staring at Li Wu Yi since he appeared and it wasn’t until he noticed that Li Wu Yi was communicating with Yang Kai via Divine Sense that he turned his attention to Yang Kai. Then, he grinned and swiped his finger across his neck.
Yang Kai sneered and turned a deaf ear. All of a sudden, he frowned and stared at a figure among the Demon Race camp, “Who is that? Why is there a Human there?”
There was indeed a Human standing among the many Half-Saints. Although this person was also overflowing with Demon Qi, there were some subtle differences between him and the other Demons. It might have been missed if one was not paying attention, so Yang Kai had failed to notice it at first.
Li Wu Yi replied lightly, “One of the Four Great Lords of Demon Heavenly Dao, Fire Lord!”
“So that’s him!” Yang Kai realised.
Demon Heavenly Dao was a group of traitors from the Star Boundary who took refuge with the Demon Race. Whether they did so willingly or were forced to, they had since become Demons. The Master of Demon Heavenly Dao was none other than Night Shadow Great Emperor, Can Ye. Even before the Demon Race invaded, Demon Heavenly Dao’s existence had caused a lot of trouble for the Star Boundary. Below the Master of Demon Heavenly Dao were Four Great Lords named Wind, Lightning, Fire, and Mountain. Each one of them had the strength of a Pseudo-Great Emperor.
Wind Lord had basically ‘died’ in the Flowing Time Temple. The reason Yang Kai now had some grey mixed in with his black hair was all thanks to Wind Lord, in fact. Afterwards, Thunder Lord seemed to have died at the hands of a Star Boundary Master while Fire Lord and Mountain Lord were missing.
The Demon Race had invaded at the start of the second war between the two worlds and the Master of the Demon Heavenly Dao, Can Ye, went missing after becoming severely injured; thus, Demon Heavenly Dao gradually disappeared.
Demon Heavenly Dao was originally an organization Can Ye established in order to create chaos in the Star Boundary before the invasion of the Demon Realm. Therefore, Demon Heavenly Dao naturally lost its primary purpose once the Demon Race army came. Since Can Ye was treating his wounds in secret, even he could only leave Demon Heavenly Dao to fend for itself.
Nevertheless, Yang Kai never expected Fire Lord to actually receive the qualification to enter the Profound Heavens Temple when it opened. Although he did not know what the situation was like among the Demon Race, it was clear that they were no better off than the Star Boundary. There must have been disputes as they scrambled to compete for the qualifications to enter; hence, it was somewhat unexpected for a Human like Fire Lord to stand out among a bunch of Demon Race Half-Saints. Yang Kai also vaguely had the feeling that Fire Lord gave off a familiar air, like he had met this person somewhere before.
As if feeling Yang Kai’s gaze, Fire Lord turned to look at Yang Kai and grinned slightly when their eyes met.
“You need to be careful of this person too.” Li Wu Yi’s voice sounded in Yang Kai’s ear, “Among the Four Great Lords of Demon Heavenly Dao, the other three have clear origins and traceable backgrounds. Only Fire Lord’s origins are a mystery. It’s almost as if he never existed before the rise of Demon Heavenly Dao. He appeared out of nowhere alongside Demon Heavenly Dao. I have no idea where Can Ye recruited him from.”
“I’ll remember,” Yang Kai nodded lightly.
By this time, the doors of the Profound Heavens Temple had long been opened. It looked like an invisible beast was opening its mouth wide to choose a person to devour. Just the aura that came out of the doors alone gave people a slight insight into the Grand Dao. Be they the Pseudo-Great Emperors of the Human Race or the Half-Saints of the Demon Realm, all of them were eager to move after they gathered in this place; after all, they had a chance at becoming a Great Emperor as long as they rushed through the doors and entered the Profound Heavens Temple. Who could resist such a temptation?
It was just that the two Dragon Clan Elders and the three Demon Saints had not said anything, so nobody dared to act rashly. It was not easy to be the first to speak out in this situation after all.
The auras from both sides collided with each other, causing the space between them to become distorted.
All of a sudden, Xue Li lifted a hand and pointed at Yang Kai and declared out loud, “Once you’re inside, find a chance and kill him for me!”
While speaking, a bright red light shot out from the tip of his finger and flew towards Yang Kai.
Yang Kai’s expression froze, but before he could do anything, Zhu Yan was already standing in front of him. The blood-coloured light scattered with a wave of Zhu Yan’s hand.
That action seemed to be a signal as, after Xue Li pointed with his finger, the tens of Half-Saints behind him rushed towards the opened doors of the Profound Heavens Temple. They instantly arrived in front of the doors and were about to rush into the Profound Heavens Temple.
Just then, Space Principles fluctuated and the figures of Li Wu Yi and Yang Kai disappeared at the same time. By the time they reappeared again, they had already passed the Half-Saints and arrived in front of the doors of the Profound Heavens Temple.
Li Wu Yi’s black hair fluttered even though there was no wind. His clothes flapped audibly as the space around him became distorted and Space Principles flared. He did not flinch even when facing dozens of Half-Saints coming straight at him and simply clapped his hand, pressed his palms tightly together, and shouted, “Solidify!”
Space froze, causing the Half-Saints who rushed forward to freeze in their tracks. Unfortunately, no matter how powerful Li Wu Yi was, he was only a Pseudo-Great Emperor, so how could he stop the charge of so many Half-Saints by himself? Just being able to stop them for a moment was already an astonishing feat. Thus, the Half-Saints were all furious. They all urged their own Secret Techniques to break free from the constraints of space, causing their Demon Qi to surge violently.
*Hou…*
A high-pitched Dragon Roar rang out, followed by a crackling sound. Then, a more than 1,000-metre-long behemoth appeared out of thin air and stood in front of Li Wu Yi.
Taking advantage of the momentary gap created by Li Wu Yi, Yang Kai transformed into his Half-Dragon Form. Light flickered at the tip of his Azure Dragon Spear. Gripping the tail of the spear tightly, he swept the spear in a horizontal arc in front of him. The flash of power shrouded a large area and a terrifying murderous intent mixed with a mysterious aura enveloped the Demon Race Half-Saints.
All of the Half-Saints turned pale and couldn’t be bothered to attack Li Wu Yi as they hurriedly retreated instead. From their past experience, they knew that Yang Kai had realised a power called Martial Truth. It was a strange and unpredictable power, but it was also incomparably difficult to handle. Once injured by that power, the injury was like maggots on rotting bones. Even the Demon Saints had to spend a lot of effort to neutralise the power. If it really came down to a fight, there was no way they would fear Yang Kai with so many of them on their side. Even if they had to pay a price, they could still manage to kill him here.
However, this was the critical moment when they were about to enter the Profound Heavens Temple to compete for the Star Boundary’s opportunity. Which Half-Saint would be willing to be injured here, especially by Yang Kai? They would immediately be disqualified if they were so much as scratched by Yang Kai’s spear; therefore, they backed away despite their unwillingness and did not dare to confront the latter directly.
The moment both sides clashed, the two Dragon Clan Elders and the three Demon Saints of the Demon Realm also collided with each other. The world instantly fell into a state of chaos from the impact of their battle.
Zhu Yan and Fu Zhun were not willing to fight the Demon Saints in this place since they were too close to the Profound Heavens Temple and it would be disastrous if their battle affected it in some way. What’s more, the fallout of their battle was too devastating. Wouldn’t it be embarrassing if they accidentally hurt one of the Pseudo-Great Emperors on their own side?
Unfortunately, the Demon Saints didn’t seem worried about that. They seemed to be trying to break through the defensive line of the two Dragon Clan Elders to attack the Pseudo-Great Emperors in order to reduce some of the competitors in the Grand Dao battle in advance. If they wanted a fight, then the two Dragon Clan Elders would take up the challenge. It was an inevitable battle.
Terrifying shockwaves of the battle spread out and both Half-Saints and Pseudo-Great Emperors paled at the sight. There had never been a time when they were so close to a battle of this scale. Feeling the power of the top Masters from their respective sides left them feeling a sense of yearning on top of their horror.
“What are you all waiting for!?” Yang Kai held the 1,000-metre-long giant spear in his hand and his voice boomed out like a Dragon Roar. Both he and Li Wu Yi were blocking the doors to the Profound Heavens Temple, preventing several dozens of Half-Saints from advancing. Their majesty was so brilliant that nobody could look at them directly.
In the wake of his roar, many Pseudo-Great Emperors came back to their senses and quickly rushed towards the Profound Heavens Temple.
*Xiu xiu xiu…* Numerous figures brushed past Yang Kai and Li Wu Yi. The first to rush over was Cang Mo. He was quick to notice the opportunity and also the fastest to react among all the others. Nobody knew if it was because he had already planned for this a long time ago. The rest of the crowd gently nodded, plunged through the doors, and disappeared.
Watching the group of Pseudo-Great Emperors entering the Profound Heavens Temple, the Half-Saints headed by Jia Long of the Demon Race camp all had deeply unhappy expressions. Nobody knew what the situation was like inside the Profound Heavens Temple, but those who entered first might enjoy some extra advantages. Who could say whether the Pseudo-Great Emperors of the Star Boundary would set up various traps in advance by the time the rest of them entered? They might suffer some casualties as a result. Even so, they were worried about Yang Kai’s Martial Truth, so none of them was willing to step forward at this time.
In the blink of an eye, all the Pseudo-Great Emperors of the Star Boundary entered the Profound Heavens Temple.
“Go!” Li Wu Yi shouted in a low voice.
The two Great Elders of the Dragon Clan were being held up by the three Demon Saints and could not get away, so it was impossible to block the attacks of so many Half-Saints with just Li Wu Yi and Yang Kai’s power alone. The best outcome they could hope for was to let all the people from the Star Boundary enter first.
Yang Kai also understood this fact and with a nod of his head, his enormous body twisted and transformed back to his Human form. He stared at Li Wu Yi deeply for a moment before turning and rushing into the palace.
Once Yang Kai had entered the Profound Heavens Temple, Li Wu Yi smiled at Jia Long, stretched out his hand in a welcoming gesture, and stepped aside.
Jia Long was livid as he snorted coldly and ignored Li Wu Yi. Leading the group of Half-Saints behind him, he rushed forward quickly and the figures vanished out of sight, one after another.
A short while later, only Li Wu Yi was left in front of the Profound Heavens Temple. Looking at the opened doors and feeling the deep aura coming from within, he gave a small sigh. Giving up on this opportunity was equivalent to narrowly missing the chance of reaching the peak of the Martial Dao. Unfortunately, with the current situation, he would still make the same choice even if he was given the chance to redo everything again.
“Hmm?” At this moment, he suddenly frowned and turned to look to the side. A stream of light was rushing in this direction at a high speed, arriving in close proximity in the blink of an eye to reveal a slim figure.
“Sheng Yu Zhu?” He glanced at the person who just came and smiled. Although he had never met Sheng Yu Zhu before, he had heard Yang Kai mention her before; thus, he immediately recognised her at a glance.
“Supreme Commander Li? This Sheng has long admired you.” Sheng Yu Zhu’s beautiful eyes glanced upward and she smiled sweetly, “Are you going to stop me, Supreme Commander?”
He slowly shook his head, “You don’t belong to the Star Boundary army, so I have no control over you. You may enter if you wish, but, if you meet Yang Kai inside, please help him out as much as possible.”
She nodded, “I will. Before the final moment comes, I will not make things difficult for him, but you should also understand that everybody is an enemy in the battle over the Grand Dao, Supreme Commander.”
“Naturally!” Li Wu Yi agreed.
“If I come out alive, I will definitely contribute to the stability of the Star Boundary,” While speaking, her tender body shifted and she threw herself into the doors of the Profound Heavens Temple and disappeared.
Li Wu Yi smiled lightly. Having learned about Sheng Yu Zhu’s situation from Yang Kai, he knew that she had been trapped in the Void Crack for many years. After so many years of suffering, it was only natural for her to want to recover her strength as fast as possible; therefore, she had not answered the call to join the Star Boundary army back then. Now that her strength had been fully restored, it made sense that she could not remain on the sidelines any longer.
According to the information she provided previously, the Profound Heavens Temple would remain for three days once it completely solidified. It would slip back into the Void three days later and disappear without a trace. When it reappeared once more, it would be the day the Grand Dao battle ended.
Therefore, Li Wu Yi’s current duty was to guard this place for the next three days. It was both to prevent the Demon Race from allowing more Half-Saints to enter and the Pseudo-Great Emperors in the Star Boundary from making a move.
Meanwhile, the battle between the two Great Elders of the Dragon Clan and the Demon Saints was slowly coming to an end. In the past, it had always been Zhu Yan and Fu Zhun being suppressed by the three Demon Saints; however, the couple had gotten much stronger ever since they entered the Dragon Rebirth Pond and now held the upper hand in battle.
Even so, it was still rather unrealistic for them to kill off any of the Demon Saints with just their strength alone, just as how the Demon Saints had not been able to kill them before either.
Continuing in this meaningless battle would only lead to losses on both sides. Hence, they gradually stopped fighting once all the people who were to enter the Profound Heavens Temple had entered. They each took up guard on one side of the Profound Heavens Temple and quietly confronted each other.
…..
The world spun in a dizzying manner. During that moment when Yang Kai stepped through the doors of the Profound Heavens Temple, he felt as though his head was about to explode. These were obviously signs of Space Transference. If a person who was proficient in Space Principles like him was suffering such symptoms, then it must be much worse for the others. He secretly estimated that it would take the others who entered the Profound Heavens Temple at least several dozen breaths before they could gather their wits.
The scenery in his field of vision was twisted and distorted, as though he were travelling through a tunnel of time and space. In addition, his figure was free-falling endlessly. It was extremely disconcerting.
Yang Kai did not know how long it was before he suddenly noticed the space around him relaxing and the feeling of solid ground beneath his feet. A cold wind blew past him, and his entire body felt a chill. Only then did he notice that his clothes were soaked with sweat and he was half kneeling on the ground while gasping for breath.
Before he even had the time to study his surroundings, he quickly released his Divine Sense to check for danger. Nobody knew what the situation was like inside the Profound Heavens Temple, not even Sheng Yu Zhu. Even though she had experienced a Grand Dao battle in the past, she had never entered the Profound Heavens Temple after all, so who could guarantee that there were no threats here?
Fortunately, there seemed to be no danger in the vicinity of where he had landed. He noticed some life auras around him through his perception, but they posed no threat to his life even though they were fairly powerful. There were no familiar energy fluctuations in the range covered by his Divine Sense, so he couldn’t help frowning and murmuring to himself, “Were we randomly teleported to different places?”
It was not his first time entering Sealed Worlds similar to this one. Many Sealed Worlds had these kinds of restrictions placed at their entrances, so each person would land at a completely different place even though they all entered together.
It was reasonable. This was the Profound Heavens Temple where the Grand Dao battle took place after all. All the people who entered this place were enemies, so if all of them landed in the same spot, it would surely turn into an instant blood bath.
As the feeling of dizziness gradually faded, Yang Kai finally had the time to look around, and what he saw made him raise a brow. He seemed to have landed in a jungle with incomparably huge and towering ancient trees all around him. Each of these large trees would need at least several people to wrap their arms around. The largest one of them was bigger than an ordinary tree by more than ten times. The dense canopy was like a gigantic umbrella that covered the sky above his head; moreover, every single giant tree was exuding an extremely ancient aura.
In addition, the World Energy in the jungle was so dense that it had condensed into a fog, causing the entire jungle to be shrouded in a mist thick enough that he could not see his fingers if he stretched his hand out in front of him.
Yang Kai took a deep breath, only to feel all the blood in his body boiling in excitement. Millions of pores opened on his skin and the ubiquitous and pure World Energy poured directly into his body in a mad rush.
It made him feel speechless. This place consumed a hundred years’ worth of World Energy from the Star Boundary when it opened, but the interior was an even greater scene of flourishing prosperity. It was worthy of being called a Source Sealed World…
Just the density of the World Energy alone was not something anywhere in the Star Boundary could compare with. Even the Heaven Grade cultivation rooms at Spirit Lake Palace were nothing compared to this place. If a person were to cultivate in such an environment, their cultivation speed would increase by more than ten times.
It was a pity that the Profound Heavens Temple could only be opened at a certain time. Besides, who could occupy a Source Sealed World like this forever? While it was not a bad idea to hide inside this place without leaving, that person would not be able to survive the erosion of time either and would eventually turn into a pile of dead bones.
A strange fragrance lingered at the tip of Yang Kai’s nose, so he sniffed lightly and his line of sight quickly moved in the direction of the smell. He saw a short vine not far from where he had first landed. The vine was covered in pale gold, longan-sized fruits. These fruits were peculiar in shape and at first glance, it seemed like there were countless cicadas perched on top of the vine. They were so lifelike that they looked like they were about to come to life. That strange fragrance was emanating from those fruits.
Yang Kai stepped forward, reached out to pick a fruit, and studied it carefully.
“Golden Cicada Fruit?” His eyes lit up. This was an amazing item. Even though it had been a while since the last time he personally refined anything through Alchemy, his heritage as an Emperor Grade Alchemist was still there. His outlook was naturally unmatched by ordinary people. The Golden Cicada Fruit itself was an Emperor Grade Spirit Fruit that could be used to refine the Golden Cicada Pill. Consuming this Spirit Pill could greatly improve the cultivation speed of a cultivator. Even without further refining, the Golden Cicada Fruit itself carried some of these special effects.
All this information was something he learned from various ancient books and records. The Golden Cicada Fruit had long since gone extinct in the Star Boundary, so he had never seen the real thing for himself. Nevertheless, the Golden Cicada Fruit had such obvious features, so how could he mistake it?
[The Source Sealed World known as the Profound Heavens Temple… is amazing…] Yang Kai had been teleported to this place at random and immediately came across the Golden Cicada Fruit. That went to show just how rich the materials in the entire Sealed World were. No wonder Sheng Yu Zhu claimed that all the Masters who participated in the Grand Dao battle throughout the ages would undergo earth-shaking changes in terms of strength as long as they could come out alive. It would now seem that there were opportunities to be found everywhere in the Profound Heavens Temple.
“Where the Golden Cicada Fruit exists, there must be a Golden Striped Wind Snake guarding it…” The information he read back then flashed across his mind. Then, a lurking shadow shot out from the vines at the speed of lightning.
“As I thought!” Yang Kai grinned and reached out a hand to grab that black shadow. It felt very smooth to the touch and turned out to be a strange 3-metre-long Spirit Snake with two fleshy wings on its sides. There was a straight golden line running down its back. Its tongue flicked listlessly, making soft hissing sounds, a stench overflowing with poison emanating from its mouth.
The Golden Cicada Fruit had long since gone extinct in the Star Boundary, and the accompanying Golden Striped Wind Snake naturally disappeared along with it. Although it was only a 3-metre-long snake, the aura radiating from its body was comparable to a Monster King. In other words, the strength of this Spirit Snake was equivalent to a Human in the Emperor Realm. Also, the Golden Striped Wind Snake was highly poisonous and moved as swiftly as the wind. If an ordinary Emperor Realm Master were to encounter this Spirit Snake, they would have no choice but to admit that they were very unlucky indeed.
The Spirit Snake in Yang Kai’s hand struggled and its Monster Qi surged violently. The long body curled up, coiling around his arm and constricting tightly as if trying to break it.
Yang Kai, however, just smiled lightly and slightly pushed his Dragon Pressure. The Golden Striped Wind Snake, which was struggling desperately, immediately stopped moving. At the same time, the body wrapped around his arm went limp and a sliver of fear appeared in those vertically slitted pupils.
All snakes in the world carried the bloodline of the Dragon Clan. It was just that the bloodline in them was extremely thin. How could a trivial Golden Striped Wind Snake carry on under Yang Kai’s Pureblood Dragon power?
“Don’t panic. I won’t take your life,” Yang Kai said to the snake. He did not know if it could understand him, but he had the feeling it could not. Although this Golden Striped Wind Snake was rather powerful, it had yet to gain sentience and was only acting based on instinct. While speaking, Yang Kai placed it into the medicine garden of the Small Sealed World.
Afterwards, he picked the Golden Cicada Fruit in front of him before also transferring the whole vine into the medicine garden. The Golden Cicada Fruit Vine and the Golden Striped Wind Snake had a symbiotic relationship. The growth of the Golden Striped Wind Snake was inseparable from the sap of the Golden Cicada Fruit Vine. In turn, the aura released by the Golden Striped Wind Snake had the effect of promoting the growth of the Golden Cicada Fruit.
Therefore, both of them had to be moved into the medicine garden together if Yang Kai wanted to transplant the plant. The plant would not survive if he only took one of them. That was probably the biggest reason why the Golden Cicada Fruit and the Golden Striped Wind Snake went extinct in the Star Boundary.
Even though the main purpose of entering the Profound Heavens Temple was to participate in the Grand Dao battle, Yang Kai did not mind enriching the number of Spirit Herbs in his medicine garden as long as it didn’t cost him much time or effort. Everything in the Source Sealed World was extraordinary after all, not something he could come across under normal circumstances, so it would be a pity to miss out on them. Besides, these items could quickly help to improve the strength and abilities of himself and his companions once he left the Profound Heavens Temple.
Yang Kai quickly finished his task; then, after considering something for a moment, he stretched out his hand and gave a small wave. A figure wrapped in Demon Qi suddenly appeared in front of him. It was a Demon; furthermore, the aura emanating from this person’s body indicated that he was only a Mid-Rank Demon King.
This member of the Demon Race was one of Yang Kai’s prisoners. When Yang Kai had caused a ruckus at the Demon Stronghold outside Blue Wave City with Jiu Feng and Yang Yan previously, he had slaughtered many of the Demons but also captured some alive. At the time, Jiu Feng and Yang Yan did not know why he took the trouble to capture some Demon Kings and he did not explain anything either. Be that as it may, now was the time to use these captives.
This Demon King had been trapped in the Small Sealed World for many days and had yet to figure out the situation after being released from his restraints all of a sudden. Even so, his expression changed the moment he saw Yang Kai standing in front of him and threw a punch while simultaneously retreating quickly.
Meanwhile, Yang Kai easily blocked the opponent’s attack. After that, he simply stared at the other party without any intention of giving chase.
The Demon King who was fleeing swiftly could not help feeling his heart clench in fear at the sight, but before he could understand what Yang Kai was trying to do, his eyes widened abruptly. The aura in his body fluctuated violently and became extremely unstable before a roar rang out. The Demon King could not even hold out for more than three breaths before exploding into pieces and leaving no corpse behind.
Yang Kai frowned, waved his hand again, and released a second Demon King. Like the first Demon King, the second Demon King exploded into a cloud of blood mist several breaths later. The same went for the third…
Yang Kai finally stopped after the third Demon King died in front of him. It would now seem that the Source Sealed World known as the Profound Heavens Temple really had a special restriction. Anybody who had yet to reach the level of a Pseudo-Great Emperor or Half-Saint in terms of strength would die miserably the moment they stepped into this place. It was completely without mercy.
The only reason why Yang Kai was safe and sound was likely because he received the legacy of Bright Moon Great Emperor and had the recognition of the World’s Will as a result. In addition, this mechanism was most likely only aimed at outsiders. All three Demon Kings he released had died cleanly, but the Golden Striped Wind Snake whose strength was only on par with a Monster King was alive and well. Part of the reason was that one was an intruder while the other was a native resident. Upon reaching a conclusion, Yang Kai could not be bothered to experiment any further.
[Still… it’s been so long. Why haven’t they arrived yet?] Yang Kai frowned slightly, an uneasy feeling growing in his heart.
Li Wu Yi had made prior arrangements on his side for when Yang Kai entered the Profound Heavens Temple. That was because Yang Kai was very likely to become the main focus of the Demon Race’s attacks since he carried the World’s Will in his body. Even if his strength was now comparable to a Half-Saint, there was no way he could defend against the joint attack of many Demon Race Masters.
He had no choice but to join forces with others to turn the situation around. Unfortunately, there were very few candidates he could choose from to join forces with him as he could not trust most people.
Li Wu Yi had initially arranged for Yang Yan and Yang Kai to work together; however, Bing Yun approached Li Wu Yi after the candidates to enter the Profound Heavens Temple were confirmed and eventually became one of Yang Kai’s allies after some discussion. In other words, the only ones Yang Kai could truly trust in the Profound Heavens Temple were Yang Yan and Bing Yun.
According to the previous agreement, they would use their Space Beacons to teleport to Yang Kai’s side as soon as possible after entering this place. They would then hide in his Small Sealed World and act according to the situation. Unfortunately, the reality was that Yang Yan or Bing Yun were nowhere to be seen.
Deciding to test things out, Yang Kai pushed his Space Principles as he connected with the Space Beacons on his belt. After a moment, he sighed lightly, “As expected…”
The worst-case scenario had occurred. The Space Beacons could not function within the Profound Heavens Temple. He could clearly sense that there was a force suppressing the Space Beacon teleportation and preventing him from going to either Yang Yan or Bing Yun’s side.
The current situation was not looking good! Even so, it was not as if he had not considered the possibility of this situation before. There would surely be all sorts of incredible restraints in a Source Sealed Word like the Profound Heavens Temple. Besides, the existence of Space Beacons would be too unfair for the Grand Dao battle. It could even be that the World itself had vaguely sensed something and rendered the Space Beacons useless within the Source Sealed World as a result.
[If the Space Beacons cannot be used, then what about Instantaneous Movement?] With a flash of his thoughts, Yang Kai stepped forward. His figure blurred swiftly and he vanished from the spot by the time his foot landed on the ground. Then, his figure reappeared out of nowhere in another part of the jungle. Rubbing his chin thoughtfully, Yang Kai looked rather pensive.
His Instantaneous Movement had not been restricted, which was good news for him. It meant that he could still escape even if he encountered multiple Demon Half-Saints joining forces against him. Nevertheless, it would be best if he could reunite with Bing Yun and Yang Yan in addition to finding the Illusionary Heavens Furnace as quickly as possible.
He originally thought that he would definitely take the lead in the Grand Dao battle due to the World’s Will that he carried in his body, but now who could say? He might have been able to sense something when he entered the Profound Heavens Temple, but contrary to his expectations, the intangible World’s Will had not given him any substantial help whatsoever. He could not sense anything out of the ordinary either.
Yang Kai did not know how large the Profound Heavens Temple was nor where the Illusionary Heavens Furnace was located; thus, he could only adapt to the circumstances and bear with them for the time being. Concealing his aura as best as possible, he began making his way through the jungle. The harvest he made along the way was astronomical! This jungle was extremely rich in materials, filled with many precious treasures that had long since gone extinct in the Star Boundary, many of which he couldn’t even identify, let alone know their specific function. Most likely, the only one who could recognise those herbs was Wondrous Pill Great Emperor.
However, Yang Kai had his Sealed World Bead and medicine garden, so whatever he came across, he would place it directly inside and leave the two little Wood Spirits to slowly figure things out.
After travelling hastily for an hour, Yang Kai had crossed thousands of kilometres through the jungle when, all of a sudden, he stopped in his tracks abruptly and turned his head to look in a certain direction with a smile creeping onto his face, “I finally met somebody.”
There were faint sounds of fighting coming from that direction. He had no idea what the specific situation was; nevertheless, having encountered others by accident, he had to go and check it out in case it happened to be Yang Yan or Bing Yun.
Yang Kai silently crept over. By the time he arrived at the place, he found that there was nobody around. The towering ancient trees in the surroundings were leaning precariously to the sides and the ground was a mess. There were also more than a dozen Monster Beast corpses that looked similar to wild wolves scattered across the ground. These Monster Beasts no longer contained any aura and their blood stained the ground.
Although these Monster Beasts were dead, Yang Kai could tell at a glance that each of the dozen or so wolves was equivalent to a Monster King. Moreover, the leader of the pack that was covered in silver fur was much larger than its companions. It was most likely a peak Monster King. A group of Monster Beasts like this was not weak in terms of power.
It had taken Yang Kai no more than ten breaths to rush to this place after hearing the commotion. For a person to kill so many powerful Monster Beasts in such a short period of time indicated just how powerful they were. Furthermore, the aftermath of the battle lingered in the air along with a faint trace of Demon Qi…
Yang Kai smiled slightly and looked in a certain direction, “Are you going to come out by yourself? Or, do I have to invite you first?”
The surroundings remained silent; there was no answer. Yang Kai did not ask a second time and instead reached out, clenched his fist, and summoned the Azure Dragon Spear out. Without missing a beat, the spear pierced the ground in an electrifying thrust.
There was a loud explosion. A huge hole was blasted into the ground by a great force. Amidst the flying dust, a figure sprang from the ground and quickly escaped into the distance. It was just that, no matter how fast that person was, how could he be faster than Yang Kai? The Azure Dragon Spear turned into a spread of spear shadows that covered the skies, sending a series of clanging sounds ringing out as shockwaves ran rampant.
Afterwards, two whooshing sounds echoed as two figures clashed and separated. Yang Kai stood in the void, holding the spear in one hand and a smile on his face, a gentle breeze blowing causing his hair to dance in the wind.
Not far away stood a Half-Saint whose Demon Qi was surging violently. He looked livid as he glared and ground his teeth, “Yang Kai!”
“It is this King!” Yang Kai snorted, fresh blood leaking from the corner of his mouth while he spoke. Although it was brief, he had suffered some minor losses in the exchange just now. The opponent was a Half-Saint, not some weak pushover. The other party’s all-out retaliation had caused Yang Kai to suffer a shock that made his internal organs churn unsteadily. He consequently sustained light injuries. While his combat power might be comparable to a Half-Saint’s, Yang Kai’s true cultivation was not there yet. Fighting a Half-Saint without falling into a disadvantageous position was already a huge achievement in and of itself.
One of the reasons he managed to kill the Stone Demon Half-Saint previously was that he had taken his enemy completely by surprise. Yang Kai had relied on the sharpness of the Azure Dragon Spear and the peculiarity of his Martial Truth to win that battle. In addition, he also had Lin Yun’er, Lan Xun, and Mo Xiao Qi helping him from the side. These three young women might only be Emperor Realm Masters, but they were personally taught by Great Emperors and had powerful artifacts in their possession. It was only natural that they could not be taken lightly.
While speaking, Yang Kai glanced at the waist area of the Half-Saint opposite him. There was a forearm-length gash at that spot and fresh blood was gushing out of the wound. Even though there was Demon Qi surrounding the wound, it made no difference. No matter how small the injury, being wounded by Martial Truth would cause the injury to worsen until it became fatal.
This Half-Saint had clearly realised that the moment he recognised Yang Kai and his already livid expression became uglier than ever. He reached out a hand to cover his wound but could not stop the blood from flowing no matter what he did.
“If I remember correctly, you’re called Luo Ya, right?” Yang Kai tilted his head to the side and stared at Luo Ya. During his time in the Demon Realm, he had travelled across many continents to repair and maintain the Territory Gates. Most of those continents were governed by Half-Saints, so he had actually met a fair number of them. For that reason, he knew most of the Half-Saints in the Demon Realm. The person in front of him was one of those Half-Saints he once met.
Luo Ya was a Sand Demon! He had been hiding underground just now, so it would seem that he knew the noise of the battle might alert others and draw them to this place to investigate. Hence, he immediately concealed himself after killing those Monster Beasts, just in case. It was just that he never expected Yang Kai to arrive so quickly, much less pinpoint his location with such ease.
“If I knew this was going to happen, I would have killed you back then!” Luo Ya snapped bitterly. The first time he met Yang Kai on his continent, Yang Kai had not held such terrifying combat power yet. If he had made a move at the time, he could have succeeded in taking Yang Kai’s life. Moreover, that chance of success was extremely high. Unfortunately, Yang Kai had now grown to an extraordinary extent. It would take a Demon Saint taking action personally to kill him now. Any Half-Saint trying to kill him on their own would only find the attempt to be as difficult as ascending to the Heavens.
“Who can say for sure what will happen in the future?” Yang Kai reached out to wipe the blood at the corners of his mouth and used the spear to point at Luo Ya, “You have two choices, surrender or die!”
Luo Ya seemed even more furious upon hearing those words and a dangerous look flashed across his pale-yellow eyes, “Do you really think I’m afraid of you?”
“Sorry! Wrong answer!” Yang Kai grinned. As soon as the smile spread across his face, he had already arrived in front of Luo Ya.
The Azure Dragon Spear quickly enlarged in front of Luo Ya’s eyes. The weapon rushing at him didn’t seem like some spear, it was more like a Dragon lunging at him with fangs and claws bared. The petrifying Dragon Pressure actually made a Half-Saint like him a little breathless. Forcefully suppressing the anxiety in his heart, Luo Ya gave a furious roar and his Demon Qi surged.
When the Azure Dragon Spear landed in the middle of Luo Ya’s chest, Yang Kai frowned. It did not feel as though his attack had landed on a solid entity. Following that attack, Luo Ya exploded violently and transformed into a huge sandstorm that encased Yang Kai inside.
The wind howled while sand and gravel danced in the air. The tiny grains of gravel seemed to have turned into countless indestructible blades. In just a moment, Yang Kai was covered in wounds. Fresh blood dripped from all over his body, and the surrounding trees collapsed around them.
“How dare you offend the majesty of a Half-Saint!? This King will kill you here today!” Luo Ya’s voice came in all directions, making it difficult to figure out where he was hiding.
Next, a high-pitched Dragon Roar rang out. The Dragon Head of a Golden Dragon appeared and disappeared in a flash. With the activation of the Dragon Transformation Secret Art, Yang Kai transformed into his more than 1,000-metre-long Half-Dragon Form. The gravel swirling around him pounded against his Dragon Scales, causing sharp rattling sounds to ring out incessantly. Those sounds were accompanied by a shower of sparks that flashed continuously. Meanwhile, the 1,000-metre-long giant spear swept out horizontally. The sandstorm that covered a large area was cut in half; however, it instantly returned to its original condition a moment later.
“I am invincible within this sandstorm! What can you do to me!?” Luo Ya’s voice echoed again. It was erratic and hard to pinpoint. While speaking, a trickle of sand separated from the sandstorm and formed a vigorous Sand Dragon that came lunging at Yang Kai with its fangs.
Yang Kai’s brow furrowed slightly as his spear thrust out, a huge black ball leisurely appearing at its tip. The black ball was filled with nothingness and chaos.
Rupture!
The combined power displayed by using the Azure Dragon Spear to activate Rupture was not as simple as one plus one equals two. The entire world seemed to collapse towards the black ball before disappearing in a flash. The Sand Dragon lunging at Yang Kai was completely swallowed up in the process and the blast even hollowed out a huge hole in the middle of the sandstorm.
At the same time, a giant sand figure with Luo Ya’s appearance suddenly emerged behind Yang Kai. The figure opened its two big hands and violently smashed them towards Yang Kai’s head in a clapping motion.
Yang Kai could sense the attack, but it was too late to dodge. There was a loud explosive noise. Then, he was struck so hard that his body staggered unsteadily and he became dizzy. Before Yang Kai could regain his footing, Luo Ya, who was composed of sand and gravel, threw another punch. This time around, the punch landed squarely in the middle of Yang Kai’s back. There was another loud explosive noise and Yang Kai’s staggering figure plunged forward as though he was struck by lightning. At the same time, a spray of blood mist spurted out of his mouth. Despite his rather severe injuries, however, the corners of Yang Kai’s mouth curled up into a smile. His Golden Dragon Eyes stared at a certain part of the sandstorm and he grinned madly, “Found you!”
If Luo Ya had not made a move, it would have been extremely difficult to pinpoint his exact location. However, the vague fluctuations he made the moment he attacked were enough for Yang Kai to lock onto his whereabouts. Therefore, Yang Kai ignored the huge Sand Demon behind him and thrust his spear to the side with both his Demon Qi and Dragon Strength.
A cry of shock rang out as Luo Ya’s figure was revealed in the endless swirl of gravel and sand. His expression was horrified as he desperately moved about within the sandstorm, trying to avoid this terrifying blow. Unfortunately, the spear followed him closely like maggots on rotting bones.
With a deafening explosion, the huge Sand Demon fell apart. All the sand and gravel from the sandstorm gathered behind Luo Ya to form a thick and solid sand shield in the blink of an eye.
In the meantime, the spear had already arrived. Its ferocious force rampaged, causing the sand shield to explode into pieces. Luo Ya screamed in pain and borrowed the power of the thrust to quickly escape into the distance.
Retracting his arm, Yang Kai stared at the smear of fresh blood on the tip of the spear and smiled coldly. Afterwards, he strode forward and chased after Luo Ya.
Both of them were in the same league in terms of strength. While Luo Ya should be stronger than Yang Kai, the Martial Truth attached to Azure Dragon Spear made him cautious about acting lest he be wounded in the process. He had already been slashed by Yang Kai’s spear at the outset and suffered a small injury as a result.
What’s more, Yang Kai had used a method that left both parties sustaining great losses during their subsequent exchange of blows to ensure that Luo Ya would suffer greatly regardless of the injury he himself received. How could Luo Ya dare to continue fighting after that?
Yang Kai might be rather injured, but he could recover completely with some recuperation. On the other hand, Luo Ya’s injuries were not as easy to deal with and there was no Demon Saint around to help him neutralise the Martial Truth eating away at him here. It would be difficult even to suppress the wound just by relying on his strength alone.
Just within these few breaths, Luo Ya could already feel the strange energy in his initial wound causing trouble within his body. Moreover, the force seemed to penetrate even deeper into his bones and meridians with the use of his Demon Qi. If he continued in this battle, he would ultimately face a tragic ending even if Yang Kai would not get away unscathed either.
“Damn this power!” Luo Ya’s face was ashen. There was no way he would have been so afraid of Yang Kai if not for this Martial Truth. Furthermore, trying to escape from a person who was proficient in the Dao of Space was nothing but a fool’s dream. All he could hope for right now was to encounter other Demon Half-Saints, join forces with them, and repel Yang Kai together. As for trying to kill Yang Kai… the chances were too slim, it was better to not even consider the possibility.
Be that as it may, what made Luo Ya despair was that he did not know how vast the Profound Heavens Temple was. The commotion caused during his fight with Yang Kai could not have been small, but even so, the noise had not attracted another Half-Saint towards them. Not even a Pseudo-Great Emperor from the Star Boundary had appeared.
While fighting and retreating at the same time, Luo Ya felt his heart sinking. The longer he dragged things out in his current condition, the worse it would be for him. Thus, the struggle between fear and desperation couldn’t help flashing before his eyes. All of a sudden, that struggle vanished and was replaced by a resolute look. His escaping figure stopped abruptly, turned around, and stared at Yang Kai coldly.
“Go on, run! Why aren’t you running?” Yang Kai turned his head and spat out a mouthful of blood. Lifting his head slightly, he looked down at Luo Ya condescendingly.
Luo Ya quickly said, “The Grand Dao battle has only just begun, must you insist on being so aggressive? Why don’t we just stop here? We can continue later. There will always be a time for a battle in the future.”
“Are you begging for mercy?” Yang Kai tapped his spear on his shoulders with a contemptuous look in his eyes.
“Yang Kai, hear this well. It’s not that this King doesn’t have the power to fight you, it’s just that I am not willing to fight with you when it will only end in a lose-lose situation,” Luo Ya replied in annoyance.
“That would depend on whether you have the qualification!” Yang Kai slammed the Azure Dragon Spear to the ground, his expression suddenly becoming serious. While forming hand seals rapidly, an ethereal Principle Strength began swirling around his body. The whole world seemed to stagnate, as if the flow of time had stopped at this moment.
“Time Flies Seal!” Luo Ya frowned deeply. The information the Demon Race had collected on Yang Kai was extremely detailed, so it was only natural for him to know what kind of Divine Abilities Yang Kai was capable of using. Therefore, he instantly knew what kind of attack was coming as soon as he saw the motions Yang Kai was making.
Among the information collected on Yang Kai, there were many things that could make a Half-Saint apprehensive; however, there were three in particular that stood out the most. The first was the strange Martial Truth he wielded. It was something that even gave the Demon Saints great headache, what more a Half-Saint? The second was his Space Principles. He had been able to repair and maintain the Territory Gates when he first entered the Demon Realm, and in comparison, his strength had grown immeasurably since then. Accordingly, his accomplishments in the Dao of Space had become increasingly powerful. The third was the Time Flies Seal. Since it involved Time Principles, it was even more bizarre and difficult to predict than Space Principles.
Up until now, the people from the Demon Realm remained a little puzzled. How could a single person cultivate two different Principle Strengths to such an extent? Moreover, be it the Dao of Space or the Dao of Time, both were extremely profound and esoteric. It was simply incredible for both of these powers to appear together in one person.
Hence, the thought of escaping instantly bloomed in Luo Ya’s mind the moment he noticed the aura of the Time Principles. The resolve to stand and fight just a moment ago shattered completely. Unfortunately, Yang Kai had already struck a palm in his direction before he could do anything. Time Principles spread out, causing Luo Ya’s thoughts to stagnate for a moment. It only lasted for a moment and he hurriedly snapped back to his senses, but even so, what entered his vision at that moment was an unstoppable spear crashing down on him.
At the juncture of life or death, Luo Ya desperately lifted a hand to summon a bunch of Demon Artifacts. Each Demon Artifact blazed with various colours in front of him, forming a solid layer of protection.
A series of cracking sounds rang out as the Demon Artifacts that were powerful enough to make any Demon King break their head open in order to obtain instantly exploded into dust. Luo Ya’s complexion swiftly turned pale as a huge force came rushing at him from the front. A feeling of pain spread out from his chest as though he had been hit head-on by an enormous mountain. His entire being was sent flying backwards into the air and his Demon Blood scattered across the sky.
Meanwhile, Yang Kai returned to his Human form and quickly pursued.
The battle resumed within the jungle. Despite being severely injured, Luo Ya still had the strength to fight back. Besides, it was only natural that he would not sit still and wait for death to come to him when Yang Kai was being so aggressive.
A quarter-hour later, Luo Ya lay on the ground somewhere in the jungle like a pile of hashed meat. The Azure Dragon Spear had pierced through his body and pinned him to the ground. On the other hand, Yang Kai was breathing heavily. Walking over from a distance, he came to stand in front of Luo Ya and looked down on the latter condescendingly with a look of indifference in his eyes.
That icy cold expression made Luo Ya panic. It had been many years since he last felt this helpless. In fact, such despair had not visited him ever since he became a Half-Saint. His heart was filled with grief, anger, and unwillingness. Unfortunately, things had already come to this point, so what was the point of feeling resentment? The only thing that made him furious was that he had not tried his best to fight Yang Kai from the beginning. If he had not been so timid at the outset, he might not have lost so badly in this battle.
“Tsk. Tsk. Tsk…” Yang Kai stared at Luo Ya as though looking at a dying dog. He thought back to the past when the pressure of a Half-Saint or Pseudo-Great Emperor had weighed down on him like a mountain. It had been so heavy that he couldn’t even breathe. Back then, he had wished that he had such powerful strength himself, and now, more than one Half-Saint had died at his hands, “The vitality of the Demon Race is really enviable.”
Following their big battle, Luo Ya’s body had been smashed in half. If any Pseudo-Great Emperor of the Human Race had been as severely injured as Luo Ya, they would definitely be powerless to survive and struggling would only serve to delay their death. However, it was different for the Demon Race. Even if Luo Ya’s body had been reduced to a pile of meat, he would not die as long as his Demon Heart survived. Naturally, his strength would be greatly reduced even if he managed to revive with his Demon Heart. In addition, the erosion of the Martial Truth was like maggots on rotting bones, so there was no way to get rid of it.
Fortunately, Yang Kai had similar resiliency. Since the power of his Dragon Source had been greatly awakened and even his Half-Dragon Form had grown immensely, the Dragon Clan’s originally powerful healing abilities had also gotten stronger.
“Mercy!” Luo Ya moaned. While speaking, a lot of fresh blood spurted out of his mouth.
“I gave you a chance previously. It’s too bad that you didn’t cherish it!” Yang Kai stretched out his hand, grabbed hold of the Azure Dragon Spear, and twisted it lightly. A look of pain appeared on Luo Ya’s face, but he was extremely stubborn and refused to let out a scream.
“Let me go and I will tell you everything you want to know.”
“What do you think I want to know?” Yang Kai looked at Luo Ya coldly.
“Everything about this Source Sealed World! Didn’t you ask me to surrender so that you can ask about this!?” Luo Ya gasped, blood dripping from his mouth, making him look extremely miserable, “I’m sure you know less about the Profound Heavens Temple than we do.”
Yang Kai snorted, “That’s only thanks to the traitor on your side!”
If the Great Emperors had still been here, the people from the Star Boundary who entered the Profound Heavens Temple would not have been this bewildered by the Source Sealed World. On the other hand, the Demon Race had Can Ye on their side. Although Can Ye was currently healing from his previous injuries, it was still possible for him to pass some information to the others. Therefore, it was safe to presume that the Half-Saints had more information on the Source Sealed World that belonged to the Star Boundary than the people of the Star Boundary themselves.
“As long as you swear on your Dao Heart and let me go, I will tell you everything I know.” The desire to survive flashed in Luo Ya’s eyes. Even if he was a Half-Saint, it was only natural to struggle to survive in the face of death.
Yang Kai said coldly, “Why should I swear an oath? Can’t I just take what I want to know directly?”
As soon as those words left his mouth, his left eye suddenly turned golden and a majestic slip appeared in it. An endless majesty filled the air, captivating people’s Souls.
Then, a terrifying wave of Divine Sense pressed down on Luo Ya like a tsunami. It was only for a moment before that Divine Sense came into contact with a layer of protection which was obviously his Soul defence.
“No!” Luo Ya screamed in shock. In that brief instant, he had felt an intense pain running through his mind as though his head was being pierced by thousands of needles. His expression became horrified after sensing Yang Kai’s Soul cultivation. Although Yang Kai was no more than a High-Rank Demon King, the Divine Sense that Yang Kai unleashed was much stronger than his own. It was simply abnormal.
Even so, this was not the time to consider this. Upon realising that Yang Kai wanted to break through his Knowledge Sea’s Defences to directly search his Soul for his secrets, Luo Ya quickly bolstered his resistance. It was just that he was already an arrow at the end of its flight. It was only thanks to Yang Kai not giving him the final blow that he could still struggle with his dying breath. What’s more, his Soul cultivation was not as strong as Yang Kai’s to begin with, so how could he do anything to stop Yang Kai? He barely held on for ten breaths before a cracking sound rang out in his head. His Soul Defence had been penetrated.
The pain was so intense that he became unable to even think for himself. All he could feel was the wave of Divine Sense that was rampaging about his Knowledge Sea without any scruples, tearing it apart. Nothing could be hidden from this intruder in his mind. All the secrets hidden in his Knowledge Sea were revealed at this moment. However, Luo Ya suddenly showed a strange and relieved smile at that time and muttered, “You’re dead.”
At the same time, Yang Kai, who was focused on investigating the many secrets in Luo Ya’s Knowledge Sea, let out an exclamation and his expression changed drastically, “A Soul Wisp!?”
He could clearly sense an aura that did not belong to Luo Ya hiding within the latter’s Knowledge Sea. Although that aura was very weak, it was also extremely pure. More importantly, it gave off an exceedingly ominous feeling.
It all happened in an instant. Luo Ya’s Spiritual Energy poured into that wisp, causing it to surge violently and transform into an illusory figure. That figure was slender and tall with fiery-red hair and scarlet eyes. He stood within Luo Ya’s Knowledge Sea, looking at Yang Kai’s outpouring Divine Sense with a smile that simply radiated with pure hostility.
“Xue Li!” Yang Kai’s expression changed drastically. He instantly understood what was going on, but he never expected that Xue Li and the other Demon Saints would go to such lengths just to protect the secrets of the Profound Heavens Temple that were hidden within the minds of the Half-Saints. [I can’t believe he planted a Soul Wisp into Luo Ya’s Knowledge Sea! If Luo Ya has this, then all the other Half-Saints probably do too…]
Luo Ya’s pleading previously might have been sincere. Nobody was willing to die if they had a chance at survival after all. On the flip side, it could also have been deliberate just to make Yang Kai relax his vigilance.
Whatever the case, he would have survived this ordeal if Yang Kai had agreed to the oath. Even though he had been injured by the Martial Truth, they were standing in the Profound Heavens Temple that contained countless precious treasures. Who could say whether Luo Ya would come across some method to neutralise the Martial Truth? If Yang Kai refused to comply with his request, then this was the inevitable outcome. In this case, Yang Kai, who had tried to harm him, would certainly suffer as a result.
As of this moment, Yang Kai was out of luck. There was no time to think as he swiftly withdrew his Divine Sense. By then, Luo Ya’s Spiritual Energy had merged with Xue Li’s Soul Wisp completely. All the secrets in Luo Ya’s mind had vanished out of sight, so it was impossible to investigate any further. Furthermore, the rapid growth of Xue Li’s Soul Wisp was making Yang Kai feel very threatened.
The Divine Senses of two illusory phantoms, one chasing and the other running, were silently clashing with each other inside Luo Ya’s Knowledge Sea. It didn’t take long for Yang Kai’s Divine Sense to escape out of Luo Ya’s Knowledge Sea, but unfortunately for him, Xue Li’s Soul Wisp pursued, following him back in the direction Yang Kai had fled, all the way to the latter’s Knowledge Sea.
The sky was full of stars inside the pitch-black Knowledge Sea. There was the Star Field Source of Heng Luo Star Field, as well as a seven-colour brilliance shining in the middle of the black flames of Yang Kai’s Knowledge Sea.
Xue Li turned his head and looked around, staring at the seven-coloured treasure island. His scarlet eyes seemed to be able to break through the illusion and observe its essence, causing him to murmur with a greedy expression, “Soul Warming Lotus?”
“Do you want it?” Yang Kai’s Soul Avatar stood to the side, squinting at Xue Li.
“It’s one of the world’s Supreme Treasures. Who wouldn’t want it?” Xue Li licked his lips, his gaze full of envy and desire, “It will become mine once I kill you.”
“Really… I’m not as easy to kill as you seem to think. Besides, this is my territory.” Yang Kai grinned at Xue Li, raising both hands into the air, causing the pitch-black Knowledge Sea to churn…
A quarter-hour later, Yang Kai, who had been standing frozen in the middle of the jungle, gave a shudder all of a sudden. His complexion was as pale as a sheet and two streams of blood flowed out of his nostrils. His eyes that had been closed opened abruptly and a flash of fear flitted across them for a moment. The Soul battle just now had seemed silent to the outside world, but it had been far more dangerous than the fight between Yang Kai and Luo Ya. It had been a Soul Wisp of a Demon Saint after all. Moreover, the battlefield had been within Yang Kai’s own Knowledge Sea. The slightest carelessness would have led to his death.
Even so, it was fortunate that the battle had occurred within his Knowledge Sea, giving him a decisive advantage. Combined with Xue Li’s underestimation of his Soul cultivation and the Soul Warming Lotus’ assistance on his side, Yang Kai finally managed to kill that Soul Wisp after paying a heavy price.
His physical body and his Soul had been severely damaged, yet the Grand Dao battle had only just begun, frustrating Yang Kai greatly. The injuries to his body were sustained during his fight with Luo Ya as he had used a method of fighting where both sides suffered losses to end things quickly. It would not have been difficult for him to win even without the Martial Truth constantly eroding away at Luo Ya’s strength, but killing Luo Ya would have been a fool’s dream.
That was something that could not be helped. A Half-Saint was not easy to kill after all. The Half-Saints who died at Yang Kai’s hands so far started with Yin Si, who was already badly wounded in the first place. She had been in the process of healing at the time when he snuck into her territory and took the initiative to create havoc for her. Even so, it had taken him more than a month to recover from that incident.
Strictly speaking, the second had not died at Yang Kai’s hands directly. It was truer to say that the Wind Lord had been killed by Yang Xiao and Yang Xue.
The third was the Stone Demon Half-Saint whom Yang Kai killed in Star Soul Palace previously. That was only possible thanks to the power of the Azure Dragon Spear and help from Lan Xun and the others.
Therefore, Luo Ya could be considered Yang Kai’s first time killing a Half-Saint at the peak of their power on his own. Moreover, this Sand Demon Half-Saint was slightly stronger than Wind Lord. Seeing as he was only a High-Rank Demon King, how could Yang Kai not pay a price for this victory?
As for the injuries to his Soul; that was not something that could be helped either. Even though Xue Li’s Soul Wisp had underestimated his Soul cultivation and he held the geographical advantage, a Demon Saint’s Soul Wisp completely inherited the main body’s experience and knowledge. It was difficult to say who would have won this battle in the end if not for the Soul Warming Lotus nourishing Yang Kai’s damaged Soul at all times.
Considering that Luo Ya, whom Yang Kai had encountered at random, had a seal placed in his Knowledge Sea by a Demon Saint, it was conceivable that the other Half-Saints chosen to enter this place were under similar conditions.
[I have to get this information as soon as possible.]
Although everybody would become enemies to one another at the end of the Grand Dao battle, it would be best if the Pseudo-Great Emperors of the Star Boundary could work together until they managed to get rid of the forces of the Demon Race. It would be detrimental to the overall situation of the Star Boundary if they fell for the Demon Race’s trickery. Moreover, if Yang Kai could think of retrieving information from Luo Ya’s Soul, then the other Pseudo-Great Emperors might get the same idea too. This method was the fastest way to obtain information on the Profound Heavens Temple after all.
After a brief consideration, Yang Kai took a deep breath and murmured to himself, “There is a Demon Saint’s Soul Wisp in their Knowledge Seas. How devious!”
A breeze blew past, causing the leaves to rustle in the wind. The air was filled with the stench of blood. Yang Kai held the Azure Dragon Spear and stood in place with his eyes lowered. He did not know how long passed before he suddenly lifted his gaze and stared in a certain direction, frowning slightly, “As expected, it’s one of us…”
While fighting Luo Ya previously, he had noticed an aura hidden in the shadows. It was just that he had been at a critical point of the battle, so he could not afford the distraction to investigate the issue at the time. He didn’t even know whether the hidden person had been a Human or Demon.
Be that as it may, the hidden person had remained motionless even when he nailed Luo Ya firmly to the ground; hence, the possibility of that individual being a Demon Race Half-Saint became minuscule. If it truly had been a Demon Race Half-Saint hiding nearby, they would not have watched the fight from the sidelines. They would have jumped out to join forces with Luo Ya instead.
Yang Kai had suffered injuries from killing Luo Ya and battling Xue Li’s Soul Wisp in his Knowledge Sea; thus, he no longer had the strength to distinguish who it was hiding nearby. He couldn’t even be sure whether that person who had been secretly following him in the shadows was still there. It wasn’t until this moment when the feeling of being watched from the shadows vanished abruptly that he could confirm the actual situation. That person had always been there and only just left moments ago.
It was obvious that the words he deliberately uttered under his breath had been heard by the other party. Regardless of whether that person would pass the information on to other Pseudo-Great Emperors nearby, at the very least, that person now knew. That was also part of his intention.
But… It truly was the Grand Dao battle. There were enemies everywhere and nobody could be trusted. The situation was not looking too optimistic for the Human Race. There were already ten fewer Masters from the Star Boundary compared to the number of Half-Saints from the Demon Realm. Even so, this person simply watched passively from the sidelines as Yang Kai fought a desperate battle against a Half-Saint, which clearly indicated that he had the mindset of taking advantage of the situation.
Yang Kai laughed bitterly to himself. It was most likely related to the World’s Will that he possessed. It might be that everybody firmly believed that the World’s Will he possessed was highly beneficial for the final part of the Grand Dao battle. If Luo Ya had managed to kill Yang Kai just now, the person hiding in the shadows would definitely have taken action to kill Luo Ya and snatch the World’s Will for themselves.
Seeing as how the World’s Will had been transferred from Bright Moon Great Emperor to Yang Kai, it made sense that if Yang Kai died, then the World’s Will would be transferred to the person who took his life.
But, when it came down to it, only Yang Kai himself knew that the invisible and intangible World’s Will had not played any role whatsoever so far.
Regardless of the circumstances, the injuries he received during this battle were rather severe even though the benefits he reaped were great. As long as he could digest the various gains and losses from this battle, it would serve as a great boon for him.
[I need to hurry up and find a place to treat my wounds!]
After considering all this, Yang Kai hurriedly turned to look in the direction of Luo Ya’s corpse. A Half-Saint’s assets accumulated over the course of their life were a huge fortune. There was no reason to abandon the loot after paying such a high price to kill the other party, but contrary to his expectations, what Yang Kai found gave him a start.
Luo Ya, who had once been a burly man, had turned into a mummified corpse at some point; moreover, he shrivelled up and withered as though he had been exposed to the elements for thousands of years. In addition, all the essence in his body had vanished without a trace.
Yang Kai couldn’t help feeling disturbed by the sight! Having noticed somebody spying on him from the shadows, he had deliberately set aside a part of his mind to remain vigilant of his surroundings even while fighting Xue Li’s Soul Wisp in his Knowledge Sea. He did not want to give that person the opportunity to attack him. However, he completely failed to notice when Luo Ya’s corpse ended up in this condition. This situation was somewhat similar to how it would look if the Embodiment had used the Heaven Devouring Battle Law to devour a person’s essence.
What happened? Yang Kai simply could not make sense of the situation. The person watching from the shadows just now might have seen everything from the beginning to the end, but he didn’t even know who it was, so how could he ask them about this incident?
There was still a Space Ring on Luo Ya’s corpse, however, so Yang Kai used his spear to pick it up and put it away. Afterwards, his figure flickered and he headed in another direction.
Half a day later, Yang Kai sat down cross-legged in the medicine garden inside the Small Sealed World. Dense World Energy gathered around his body, causing his form to throb in response. His hideous wounds were squirming endlessly, growing new flesh continuously so that scabs and dried skin moulted and fell off in layers.
Two small Wood Spirits floated around him with solemn expressions, one in front and one behind him. They were forming seals with both hands in a serious manner, their two small pairs of hands glowing with an emerald light that enveloped Yang Kai. That emerald light was brimming with energy and vitality, accelerating the healing speed of his wounds.
Although his injuries from this battle were fairly severe, his foundation had not been damaged, so he could simply rely on his own powerful regenerative abilities combined with the Wood Spirit’s healing to treat his wounds. It would not take long for him to recover. On the other hand, there was no need to bother about the injuries to his Soul as the Soul Warming Lotus would deal with that on its own.
It was just that the Grand Dao battle in the Profound Heavens Temple could not be delayed. For every day that he spent in the Small Sealed World, the Pseudo-Great Emperors on the outside would lose a bit of combat power.
…..
A piece of chaos existed somewhere in the depths of the Profound Heavens Temple. It was shrouded in endless darkness as if the world itself had yet to open. Inside that chaos, a square and boxy Giant Furnace spun slowly. The surface of the Giant Furnace was engraved with countless complicated patterns. At first glance, the patterns seemed incomprehensible. Even the Great Emperors and the Demon Saints would not be able to distinguish the specific lines of these patterns if they were here. Be that as it may, one would be able to make out the scenery of everything in the world from these patterns if they were to stare at them continuously for a while. The crisscrossed patterns seemed to depict the origins and essence of everything in the world, which was very profound and mysterious indeed. In addition, the Giant Furnace was emitting a kind of mysterious aura that could drive anybody insane from within its depths.
When the Demon Realm Half-Saint, Luo Ya, was killed by Yang Kai, his body had shrivelled at a speed visible to the naked eye. The Spiritual and Vital Essence in his body also disappeared without a trace, causing him to become a dry corpse in a blink of an eye.
At the same time, a hazy aura suddenly appeared in the Giant Furnace. That aura was so pure and clean that any living creature could absorb it into their bodies to enhance their strength. The moment this mass of pure aura appeared, the darkness that enveloped the deepest part of the Profound Heavens Temple seemed to become slightly thinner.
Meanwhile, the Giant Furnace continued spinning, as it had been since time immemorial and would continue to until the end of the world…
The Profound Heavens Temple was the Source Sealed World of the Star Boundary, a wondrous space that had existed since the beginning of the world. It was where the fate of trillions of creatures born into this world converged.
The world seemed to have accumulated everything that was good and pure in this place. Every part of the Sealed World contained beautiful and unforgettable scenery, as well as World Energy which was so dense it could be felt and touched. Even the World Principles were clear and distinguishable here, making it easier for a person to perceive the Dao.
It was just that every time this Source Sealed World was opened, it was accompanied by endless battle and slaughter. Hence, none of the participating Masters had the heart to enjoy this rare beautiful scenery that could not be found in the outside world.
…..
Somewhere in the dense forest, Sheng Yu Zhu’s body moved agilely as she jumped about above the tree canopy like a fluttering butterfly. All of a sudden, her beautiful figure paused in her tracks and her clear voice sounded in the air, “Come out. What’s the point of hiding? Is it fun?”
A layer of ripples spread out in the air and a figure wrapped in darkness suddenly appeared not far in front of her. Another skeleton-like figure followed closely with two orbs of Ghost Fire dancing about his eye sockets. One stood in front of her and the other stood behind her, blocking her path and preventing her from proceeding forward or retreating backwards.
“A Shadow Demon and a Bone Demon…” Sheng Yu Zhu glanced at the two Demons with her beautiful eyes and immediately recognized their identities. Although she had constantly been in retreat to recover the strength she lost and did not participate in the Two Worlds Great War, it did not prevent her from sending the Luo Sha Sect disciples out to gather information on the Demon Race. The Demon Race proclaimed to have a hundred different Clans, but only a few of those really stood out among them. Moreover, each Clan had their own distinct characteristics, making them extremely recognizable.
“This is going to be a little troublesome…” She frowned slightly. Despite being caught in a pincer by two Demon Race Half-Saints, Sheng Yu Zhu unexpectedly did not show signs of panic.
A strange cackling laugh rang out at that moment as the Bone Demon’s teeth chattered open and close, making a sound similar to metal striking metal, “You sure have terrible luck. I can’t believe you bumped into us here. Can you please die for us?”
Although his tone was polite, his voice was as cold as ice.
She smiled in response, “Are you that confident?”
The Bone Demon snorted, “It’s two against one. How can I not be confident?”
“Stop wasting your breath on nonsense and just get on with it!” The Shadow Demon Clan had always been one of few words, just as they were stingy about revealing their figures to others. After the Shadow Demon finished speaking, he turned into a stream of black light and lunged toward Sheng Yu Zhu.
Likewise, Sheng Yu Zhu moved at the very same moment the Shadow Demon made his move, her delicate body showing unimaginable swiftness as she rushed at the Shadow Demon coming at her and simultaneously reached out to grab at something in the void with both hands. Twin sabre-like artifacts were summoned into her grip, an ancient aura fluctuating around the curved blades that gleamed with a cold light.
“Hm?” The Shadow Demon exclaimed in surprise. It would seem that he did not expect a Human woman to be so daring. Not only did she not try to escape despite facing a two-on-one battle, she even took the initiative to attack. Nevertheless, this was exactly what he desired. The other party was all alone, so this woman would undoubtedly be at a disadvantage in this battle.
A dagger appeared silently as the Shadow Demon’s figure flashed several times, a cold light gleaming from his blade as he slashed at Sheng Yu Zhu’s waist and abdomen. There was no feeling of his attacks landing, however, and contrary to his expectations, her figure dissipated immediately after being hit. His expression froze in surprise for a moment before he quickly looked toward the Bone Demon and shouted, “Watch out!”
As soon as those words rang out, Sheng Yu Zhu suddenly appeared behind the Bone Demon. The twin sabres in her hands drew a beautiful arc as her cold voice sounded, “You should treat your Seniors with more respect.”
Although the Demon Race Half-Saints had lived many years, Sheng Yu Zhu had undoubtedly lived much longer than them; thus, she had the right to call herself ‘Senior Sheng’.
“Kacha…*
A crisp sound rang out from the Bone Demon’s neck as his head fell. The two orbs of Ghost Fire danced violently in his eye sockets as he muttered, “What…”
He didn’t even manage to see how she had attacked him before his head was chopped off cleanly. Fortunately, he was a Bone Demon. If it had been a Demon from any other Clan, they would most likely have suffered a heavy blow from that attack.
Roaring loudly, the Bone Demon’s skull-less body lifted a hand to catch his fallen head while the other hand slammed upward abruptly. Five bony fingers shot out, expanding in the wind to transform into five armoured Bone Demons wielding Demon Artifacts of different shapes and sizes. The Demon Qi coming from each Bone Demon was astounding and far beyond the level of a High-Rank Demon King. Although it was not on the level of a Half-Saint, the combined force of these five Demons was not to be underestimated either.
“Hard to kill indeed.” Sheng Yu Zhu swept her gaze around, allowing the five Bone Demons to surround her as she locked her beautiful eyes onto the Bone Demon Half-Saint again.
The Bone Demon Half-Saint placed his head back on his neck and turned it with a slight crack. Once he confirmed that there were no hidden problems with his head, he shouted angrily, “You’ll pay for that!”
Her attack had not caused him any damage, but it had frightened him quite a bit. He had been sure that it was going to be easy to take down the other party in a two-on-one battle, but who could have expected that this woman would be so difficult to deal with? Hence, he suddenly became furious out of shame.
The five Bone Demons gathered around Sheng Yu Zhu immediately took action. Five powerful Demon Artifacts flashed with light and came down on Sheng Yu Zhu all at once, resulting in a loud explosion as her figure was smashed apart.
At the same time, a chill shrouded the Bone Demon Half-Saint’s body. A sword light slashed straight across his eyes seemingly from nowhere. Even though he had long since lost his physical body, he could still feel a chill run up his spine at that moment. Even his hands and feet felt cold. The biggest weakness of Bone Demons was the Soul Fire in their eye sockets. While this Race did not have a Demon Heart, their Soul Fire was their root. If their Soul Fire was extinguished, they would immediately turn into a pile of broken bones. On the flip side, they were practically immortal so long as their Soul Fire remained safe.
*Dang…* A crisp sound rang out as a black shadow appeared out of nowhere. Sparks erupted in all directions as the Shadow Demon stopped Sheng Yu Zhu’s attack and snarled coldly, “Concentrate!”
“I know!” The Bone Demon gritted his teeth, hatred overflowing from the Soul Fire in his eye sockets, “I’m going to skin her alive!”
“Only if you have the ability,” Sheng Yu Zhu’s voice remained calm as the twin sabres in her hands turned into a storm of slashes that enveloped both the Shadow Demon and the Bone Demon.
…..
Somewhere in a swamp, three figures were locked in pursuit. The one fleeing at the forefront was a Demon Race Half-Saint that was emitting a stench of decay similar to a corpse that was resurrected after being buried in the ground for countless years. It was a Half-Saint from the Corpse Demon Clan.
He was being chased by two Pseudo-Great Emperors of the Human Race. One of them was somebody Yang Kai had some friendly relations with, Army Commander of the Fifty-Third Army, Fu Ren Jie.
Fu Ren Jie was pretty lucky. Not long after entering the Source Sealed World, he managed to meet up with a companion. Both of them were Army Commanders from the Star Boundary, so they were quite friendly with each other. After some deliberation, they decided to cooperate on their journey to find the legendary Illusionary Heavens Furnace.
Yang Kai had not concealed the information he received from Sheng Yu Zhu; therefore, all the Pseudo-Great Emperors from the Star Boundary knew to search for the Illusionary Heavens Furnace that would act as the key for them to become a Great Emperor when they entered the Profound Heavens Temple. It was just that even Yang Kai and Sheng Yu Zhu were clueless about the Illusionary Heavens Furnace, so how could the others know any more?
Nevertheless, their harvest has been great so far. There were many precious treasures to be found in this swamp that had long medicinal ages. The two of them had made quite a fortune, but everything would be in vain if they entered the Profound Heavens Temple only to fail to become a Great Emperor.
When the pair suddenly came across a Demon Race aura during their search, they immediately gave chase, which then resulted in the current situation. On the other hand, the Corpse Demon didn’t even stop to consider anything when faced with the prospect of confronting two Pseudo-Great Emperors from the Star Boundary alone. He instantly turned around to escape; hence, this cat-and-mouse chase had gone on for an entire day. Although the pair tried to attack the Corpse Demon on several occasions during that period, the latter had dexterously dodged and avoided all of those attacks.
“It will be bad if we drag this out any longer! Don’t hold back!” Fu Ren Jie suddenly shouted. He was extremely annoyed that they had failed to tie down the other party after chasing him for so long.
Unfortunately, this was something that could not be helped. If the other party was determined to escape, it would not be easy for them to stop him. Seeing as it wouldn’t do anybody good to continue with this pursuit any longer, Fu Ren Jie was preparing to use some sort of powerful Divine Ability.
The middle-aged man beside Fu Ren Jie nodded and said, “I’ll stop him!”
Along with a series of crackling sounds, a smattering of lightning suddenly appeared around the man’s body. It immediately turned his entire figure into a bolt of lightning as he dashed forward in the direction of the fleeing Demon.
The Corpse Demon seemed to sense the danger coming from behind him and turned around to spew out a dense mass of Corpse Qi. The lightning bolt penetrated the Corpse Qi, however, causing a muffled groan to escape from both sides.
The figure of the middle-aged man appeared a couple thousand metres behind the Corpse Demon with an abnormal flush on his face. It was obvious that the move he used just now put a heavy burden on him; otherwise, he would have intercepted the enemy earlier and not have waited until this moment. Nevertheless, his effort paid off as there was a scorched burn mark on the shoulder of the Corpse Demon, as though he had been struck by lightning.
The World Energy in the world seethed violently and gathered around Fu Ren Jie’s body at that moment. His expression was solemn as she swiftly formed a set of hand seals and pushed his Principle Strength madly.
Thanks to the Profound Heavens Temple being a Source Sealed World, the World Energy was very rich in this place. As a result, both the Humans and the Demons experienced a great increase in the power of their Divine Abilities upon entering.
Following Fu Ren Jie’s actions, a fireball appeared in front of him. The fireball was only the size of a fist, but it was as dazzling as the sun itself. Not to mention, it was exuding a horrifyingly searing heat that made all the muddy water in the swamp evaporate rapidly.
It was conceivable that even the Corpse Demon Half-Saint would be in deep trouble if he was hit by this fireball; however, despite being in an obviously terrible situation with one enemy in front of him and the other behind him, he simply laughed evilly to himself.
The middle-aged man standing behind the Corpse Demon Half-Saint frowned and instinctively felt that something was wrong, “What are you laughing at?”
The Corpse Demon’s laughter gradually grew wilder, causing their eardrums to hurt, “Foolish Humans! Did you think I was trying to escape!? You’re wrong! I was simply buying time to refine them!”
“Refine them?” The middle-aged man frowned, wondering what the Corpse Demon meant.
On the other hand, the Corpse Demon took a deep breath with a look of joy on his face, “The Source Sealed World of the Star Boundary, the Profound Heavens Temple, really is a good place! You only see the various precious treasures lying around you. But, for this King, there are other treasures buried here…”
“Not good! Hurry up and attack!” When the middle-aged man saw the Corpse Demon’s deranged expression, he knew that they could not delay things any further even though he did not know what the other party was about to do. While urging Fu Ren Jie to speed up his preparations, his figure transformed into a flash of lightning again that struck the Corpse Demon like a punishment from the Heavens.
“Come out, my servants!” Intricate patterns flashed across the Corpse Demon’s palms, illuminating dazzling patterns. Then, he pushed his palms downwards sharply.
There was a deafening rush of noises and from the depths of the swamp emerged numerous silhouettes. Hundreds of figures appeared in the blink of an eye. Among those many figures, some headed towards the incoming lightning strike while others headed towards Fu Ren Jie who was in the process of channelling some powerful Secret Technique.
*Hong hong hong…*
A series of explosions rang out and amidst the thunder and lightning, the figure of the middle-aged Pseudo-Great Emperor was revealed again, his complexion ashen. Meanwhile, Fu Ren Jie released his ultimate move. It was just that his attack was blocked by the incoming figures before it could approach the Corpse Demon. The flames erupted in all directions, causing more than half of those figures to be blasted into pieces. The power of the Divine Ability that took Fu Ren Jie so much time and energy to prepare was truly extraordinary. Unfortunately, all his efforts were in vain since the attack missed the Corpse Demon.
On the contrary, it was Fu Ren Jie, who performed this Secret Technique, whose breathing became a little uneven instead.
“Corpse Refinement!” The middle-aged man gritted his teeth and shouted, his expression turning slightly grim.
Leaving aside the Corpse Demon Clan’s individual strength, their Innate Divine Ability allowed them to refine corpses for their own use; therefore, the silhouettes that suddenly emerged from the swamp were clearly the Corpse Demon’s Corpse Puppet Army.
However, what made Fu Ren Jie and the middle-aged Pseudo-Great Emperor fearful was that there were an abundance of Half-Saints and Pseudo-Great Emperors among these Corpse Puppets! There were not many Half-Saints of course, just two who were obviously corpses that the Corpse Demon had collected back in the Demon Realm.
On the other hand, there were as many as four Pseudo-Great Emperors among the Corpse Puppets! Moreover, the clothes of the four Corpse Puppets clearly indicated a very ancient style of dressing. These four did not seem to belong to the same era as themselves.
Recalling what the Corpse Demon said just now, Fu Ren Jie’s expression changed, “Damn! These must be the corpses of our Seniors who were buried in this place!”
The middle-aged man also came back to his senses, his expression instantly turning solemn. Nobody could have expected that the Corpse Demon would be able to locate so many Pseudo-Great Emperor corpses and refine them in such a short period of time after entering the Profound Heavens Temple.
Be that as it may, it was not surprising either. The Profound Heavens Temple had existed since the beginning of the world and the Grand Dao battle took place many times over that period. There were countless Pseudo-Great Emperors who died here. Not to mention that Corpse Demons were especially sensitive to powerful corpses. It was only natural that he would have a way of locating these remains.
Besides, the physical body of a Pseudo-Great Emperor was inherently powerful and would remain intact under the right circumstances even if they died countless years ago.
Even if a corpse was refined into a Corpse Puppet, it was impossible to draw out the full strength they used to wield before they died. It would be miraculous if they could even draw out 80% of their original strength. However, the number of the Corpse Demon’s Corpse Puppet Army was daunting. Just the Corpse Puppets of the Pseudo-Great Emperors and Half-Saints alone numbered six. The others were High-Rank Demon Kings. Furthermore, there was also a Corpse Demon Half-Saint watching the situation from the side.
The situation had taken a turn for the worse. It was originally a two-against-one battle, and even if the Corpse Demon had a Corpse Puppet Army under him before, the two of them still stood a fighting chance to win. However, the balance of power had been overturned now that the Corpse Demon had refined four Pseudo-Great Emperor Corpse Puppets.
“You’ve had a lot of fun chasing this King all day long.” After the Corpse Demon called out his Corpse Puppet Army, he calmly gazed at Fu Ren Jie and the middle-aged Pseudo-Great Emperor, his expression overflowing with the sadistic pleasure of getting his revenge, his tone especially harsh, “Did you ever think you would end up in this state when you were chasing this King!?”
While speaking, he thrust out his hands in the direction of Fu Ren Jie and the middle-aged Pseudo-Great Emperor. As if receiving some sort of signal, the surrounding Corpse Puppet Army tightened the circle around those two, forcing them into the middle of a siege.
Fu Ren Jie and the middle-aged Pseudo-Great Emperor exchanged a glance with each other and their Divine Senses flickered for a moment. Then, they both turned and rushed towards one of the Pseudo-Great Emperor Corpse Puppets. At this point, they could only hope to break out of this encirclement before making further plans.
The reason they chose one of the Pseudo-Great Emperor Corpse Puppets was mainly because of how long they had been refined. The Corpse Demon had discovered the corpses of the Pseudo-Great Emperors in the Profound Heavens Temple, so he only had a day to refine their corpses. Even if the Corpse Demon could forcefully control these corpses, he should not be able to bring out much of their strength.
In that tense moment, the two figures broke through the barrier of more than ten High-Rank Demon King Corpse Puppets and arrived in front of one of the Pseudo-Great Emperor Corpse Puppets in an instant.
Under the control of the Corpse Demon, the Pseudo-Great Emperor Corpse Puppet threw a punch at Fu Ren Jie, but all three of them, Fu Ren Jie, the middle-aged Pseudo-Great Emperor, and the Corpse Demon Half-Saint, couldn’t help frowning when that punch was thrown as the power of that punch seemed to be…
In the next instant, the two figures flashed past and the body of the Pseudo-Great Emperor Corpse Puppet exploded into dust.
The Corpse Demon Half-Saint’s eyes widened with an incredulous look, unable to believe what he was seeing, “Wha…”
That was a Pseudo-Great Emperor Corpse Puppet after all. Even if the refining process had been rushed, it should not have been this vulnerable. He felt as though he had found a great treasure when he discovered these corpses. Unfortunately, he had been discovered by Fu Ren Jie and the middle-aged Pseudo-Great Emperor before he could study them carefully. Afterwards, he had refined these corpses while on the run from his pursuers; thus, even he was unaware of the state these Pseudo-Great Emperor corpses were in. It wasn’t until this moment that he realised that what he regarded as treasures were actually just paper tigers.
Similarly, Fu Ren Jie and the middle-aged Pseudo-Great Emperor seemed to catch on to this point and did not leave after breaking through the siege. Instead, they glanced at each other and turned back. Spreading out, they each headed towards a Pseudo-Great Emperor Corpse Puppet.
Two explosions rang out and the two Pseudo-Great Emperor Corpse Puppets targeted by Fu Ren Jie and the middle-aged Pseudo-Great Emperor exploded into dust.
These corpses were completely vulnerable.
Although their bodies emitted the aura of a Pseudo-Great Emperor during the refining process, it was only true for their outer appearance. They looked strong on the outside but were empty on the inside, like hollow shells. The amusing thing was that the Corpse Demon Half-Saint had used these four Pseudo-Great Emperor Corpse Puppets as his trump card.
Looking at the face of the Corpse Demon Half-Saint, the two of them knew that he was just as surprised as they were. Fu Ren Jie grinned lightly and looked at the Corpse Demon, “You’re dead now!”
They originally thought that the opponent had managed to turn the situation around on them, so they had no choice but to flee for their lives. Who could have known that such an unexpected accident would occur? Without those four Pseudo-Great Emperor Corpse Puppets, how could Fu Ren Jie and the middle-aged Pseudo-Great Emperor fear this Corpse Demon?
[Perhaps it has been too long and the bodies of these four Pseudo-Great Emperors have long since decayed…] Fu Ren Jie thought to himself.
Likewise, the Corpse Demon had noticed that something was wrong. His thoughts flashed for a moment and the remaining Corpse Puppet Army rushed towards Fu Ren Jie and the middle-aged Pseudo-Great Emperor. Meanwhile, he turned and fled instead.
He could hear various noises coming from behind him while at the same time, his heart bled as he felt his Soul Imprints disappearing one after another! That Corpse Puppet Army was something he had accumulated over the course of his entire life after all. It would seem that all of them would be buried here today. What’s more, losing his Corpse Puppet Army would mean that his strength would be greatly reduced as a result.
There was only one question circling deep in his heart. [What is wrong with those four Pseudo-Great Emperor corpses that I found!? Even with the erosion of countless years, there is no reason for them to be so fragile!]
When he urgently investigated the last of the Pseudo-Great Emperor Corpse Puppet, he found that the corpse itself was completely rotten. He had made a huge mistake. At this point, he could no longer worry about the fate of his Corpse Puppet Army, all he could do right now was find one of his companions as soon as possible and join forces with them in order to stand a fighting chance against those two.
…..
An agonised scream rang out across the rolling grasslands. A Stone Demon Half-Saint half-knelt on the ground as his powerful lifeforce slowly bled out of him. He was covered in countless wounds and fresh blood was flowing freely from those injuries. The surrounding area around him was a mess, evidently caused by the fallout of a great battle.
Although the Stone Demon Half-Saint was severely injured, he would not die so quickly. He would even recover completely given the chance to treat his wounds. It was a pity that this was the Profound Heavens Temple where the Grand Dao battle took place. There were enemies and dangers on all sides, so who would give him the time to recuperate?
Beside him stood three figures in a triangle formation. Their Divine Senses were firmly locked on him so that a barrage of attacks would immediately rain down on him if he so much as moved a finger. Naturally, those three were Pseudo-Great Emperors from the Star Boundary. If they had not joined forces together, they would not have been able to back a Half-Saint into a corner so quickly.
“Tell us the secrets of the Profound Heavens Temple and we’ll give you a swift death,” one of the Pseudo-Great Emperors said coldly. Just like how Yang Kai had tried to inquire about the Profound Heavens Temple from the Sand Demon Half-Saint, many other Pseudo-Great Emperors had the same idea.
Everybody knew that the Demon Realm had Can Ye on their side. As a former Star Boundary Great Emperor who had once entered the Profound Heavens Temple and participated in the Grand Dao battle, Can Ye was sure to know exactly what secrets there were in the Profound Heavens Temple. Furthermore, what he knew would surely be passed on to the Half-Saints that entered this place.
“Heh heh…” The Stone Demon Half-Saint looked miserable, but even so, he laughed when he heard those words and a rebellious look appeared on his face. Sweeping his gaze over the three people surrounding him, he spoke in a hoarse voice, “I will only tell one person. Who should it be?”
The first Pseudo-Great Emperor coldly snorted at those words, “Don’t try to sow discord among us. Answer us truthfully and quickly! Otherwise, I’ll make you wish you were dead!”
The Stone Demon looked at him frostily, “What if I refuse to tell you? What can you do to me?”
“Stubborn bastard!” The first Pseudo-Great Emperor coldly snorted before turning to look at an elderly man next to her, she continued, “Old Chen, your Soul cultivation is the strongest among the three of us. We will have to count on you for this.”
The elderly man called Old Chen nodded in response, “Of course. Please rest assured, this Old Master swears on his Martial Heart that he will share whatever he learns with the two of you, if I learn anything at all. There will be no hidden secrets.”
“Many thanks, Old Chen.” The first Pseudo-Great Emperor and another man thanked him in unison.
“Please stand guard for me. While this fellow is an arrow at the end of its flight, he is still a Half-Saint. We must not underestimate him,” Old Chen stepped forward and walked towards the Stone Demon.
“Of course,” The other two responded and stepped forward together.
The Stone Demon panicked slightly, gritting gritted his teeth as he roared, “You want to search my Soul!? In your dreams!”
While saying that, a dangerous aura began to fluctuate all over his body.
“You wish!” The first Pseudo-Great Emperor shouted tenderly and with a shift of her body, she arrived at the Stone Demon’s side and placed a slender jade finger to the Stone Demon’s forehead. At the same time, the other man gave a soft whistle, one that sounded like some kind of bird song, but it was extremely pervasive and hypnotic.
The jade finger tapped against the Stone Demon’s forehead and his aura suddenly reduced considerably. In addition, the struggling look on his face weakened significantly after listening to that soft whistling sound. His dangerous aura calmed down a lot as a result.
Old Chen nodded lightly and walked over to the Stone Demon Half-Saint before whispering, “Look into my eyes…”
That voice seemed to contain some sort of peculiar power and the Stone Demon was already being suppressed by the two Pseudo-Great Emperors; thus, he involuntarily looked into Old Chen’s eyes upon hearing those words. Looking into that gaze gave him the feeling that the elderly man’s eyes were spinning and rotating in a strange manner that engulfed his entire mind. His expression instantly went blank.
If the Stone Demon had been at the peak of his power, Old Chen would not have been able to do anything to the other party even with his Soul Secret Technique. It was just that the other party had been beaten half to death by their combined power; moreover, his Spiritual Energy was being suppressed at the moment. How could he resist Old Chen’s technique?
The two Pseudo-Great Emperors standing next to them couldn’t help breathing quickly in excitement at the sight. What secrets were hidden in the Profound Heavens Temple? Where exactly was the Illusionary Heavens Furnace located? How exactly do they become a Great Emperor? These were all the things that they were eager to know. It was a pity that nobody in the Star Boundary could give them the answers, but the Stone Demon in front of them was the best person to obtain this information from.
It had only been a few days since the Profound Heavens Temple opened; therefore, the three of them would be ahead of many other people if they could get first-hand information from this Stone Demon. Whether or not they shared this information with other Pseudo-Great Emperors later would depend on the situation at hand.
As for whether or not Old Chen would hide any secrets from them, there was no need to worry. Seeing as he had sworn an oath on his Martial Heart, he would have to pay a steep price in order to deceive them. If he caused a crack to appear in his Martial Heart, there was a high possibility that he would lose his chance to become a Great Emperor in this lifetime.
It could be said that if the three of them could obtain this first-hand information, then they would surely be able to take the lead in the upcoming Grand Dao battle. They would also have a better chance of becoming the Great Emperor.
The moment that thought crossed their minds, both the middle-aged woman and the other man couldn’t help but stare at the Stone Demon with fiery eyes. It was as though the person in front of them was not part of the hated Demon Race but a plate of mouth-watering delicacies.
At that moment, Old Chen was investigating the secrets within the Stone Demon’s Knowledge Sea when his expression suddenly changed drastically. His aura burst out violently without any warning, catching the middle-aged woman and other man off guard, sending them flying from the impact as a result.
“What happened!?” That man was furious, thinking that Old Chen had found some incredible information and attacked them because he was unwilling to share it with them. If that was really the case, then it only went to show that Old Chen was very short-sighted indeed. However, he realised at a glance that the situation was not what he had initially thought.
[Old Chen’s condition…]
“Something… seems to be wrong with Old Chen.” The middle-aged woman had also noticed the abnormality of the situation and stared straight ahead while speaking.
At this moment, two streams of blood were flowing out from Old Chen’s eyes. Not only that, but his face was also flushed red. A turbulent wave of Spiritual Essence erupted like a tide from his head, as though he was suffering from a dissonance in his cultivation.
“Xue… Xue Li!” Old Chen gritted his teeth and roared, staggering backwards. He was unable to control himself and fell to the ground, blood spurting from his mouth and his aura quickly weakened.
“What!?” The middle-aged woman’s beautiful face turned pale and instinctively checked her surroundings. The meaning behind the name ‘Xue Li’ was something all the Pseudo-Great Emperors from the Star Boundary knew. It was referring to one of the Demon Saints, an existence that was equivalent to a Great Emperor. It was just… could a Demon Saint enter the Profound Heavens Temple?
“A Soul Seal!” The other man was quick-thinking and immediately caught on to what was going on, calling out in alarm, “There was a Soul Seal in the Stone Demon’s Knowledge Sea! We were tricked!”
Realisation dawned on the middle-aged woman at those words. Only then did she realise that Xue Li had not entered the Profound Heavens Temple. Rather, he had left a seal in the Stone Demon’s Knowledge Sea that caused Old Chen to suffer.
“Save… Save me!” Blood was flowing out of Old Chen’s seven orifices as he cried out for help. Even the two Pseudo-Great Emperors next to him could clearly perceive that he was fighting against some sort of power inside his own body, and that power undoubtedly originated from the Demon Saint, Xue Li!
The middle-aged woman and the man looked at each other and saw the conflicting emotions in each other’s eyes. The reputation of the Demon Saints was too intimidating; thus, they did not have the courage nor the confidence to fight one. It would not be worthwhile if they not only failed to save Old Chen but also fell into trouble themselves. Even so, it was unbearable to just watch Old Chen suffering without doing anything. What’s more… Xue Li only planted a Soul Seal in the Knowledge Sea of the Stone Demon, so the power he could exert should be limited.
There was only a brief hesitation before the two of them moved in unison and came to Old Chen’s side. They each pressed a finger on Old Chen’s forehead, one on the left and one on the right. Their Divine Senses surged as they couldn’t afford to care about anything else at the moment. When their Soul Avatars rushed into Old Chen’s Knowledge Sea, their expressions changed drastically.
About half an hour later, both the middle-aged woman and man suddenly opened their eyes and gasped for breath. Their complexions were pale and looking at each other, they saw the horror in each other’s eyes.
“We were careless!” The middle-aged woman gritted her teeth. Who could have known that Xue Li would leave a Soul Wisp in a Half-Saint’s Knowledge Sea? Even if the other party was a Demon Saint, doing something like this would still be a huge burden for him.
Just a mere Soul Wisp had given the three Pseudo-Great Emperors such a difficult time. The strength that the other party could exert might not be stronger than any one of them individually, but Xue Li’s mastery of his strength was far above anything those three could even hope to compete with. Not to mention, the battlefield was located within Old Chen’s Knowledge Sea, so the movements of both the middle-aged woman and the man were somewhat restricted. On the other hand, Xue Li’s Soul Wisp had no such scruples.
While they eventually managed to destroy Xue Li’s Soul Wisp in this difficult battle, the price they had to pay was not small. The man glanced at Old Chen with a sad look on his face, “Old Chen, he…”
Likewise, the middle-aged woman had a gloomy look on her face as she sighed heavily, “His life is in no danger, but…”
“Let’s find a place to hide for now,” the man suggested.
“En. That’s our best option right now.”
A short while later, the middle-aged woman stuck her head into a cave, and once she confirmed that there was nothing dangerous inside, she drew upon her Divine Sense and sent a message. The man soon entered this place with an unconscious Old Chen on his back, placed Old Chen down in a clean place, and went back outside the cave to make preparations.
Old Chen was in a coma for three whole days and when he finally did awaken, as a Pseudo-Great Emperor, he knew exactly what kind of situation he was in even though he had been unconscious the entire time. The gazes of his two companions immediately turned to look at him the moment he opened his eyes and the middle-aged woman asked with concern, “How are you feeling, Old Chen?”
Old Chen coughed slightly, forced himself to sit up, and laughed bitterly, “We tried to steal a chicken but ended up losing the rice instead.”
The other man said, “Who could have imagined that Xue Li would set up something like that… Old Chen, you…”
Old Chen raised his hand to stop the other man, “I know my own situation best. I’m afraid I won’t be able to participate in this Grand Dao battle anymore.”
His demeanour might seem rather light and carefree, but both the middle-aged woman and the other man could see the deep despair and unwillingness in his eyes. Who would be willing to accept something like this? The Grand Dao battle was a monumental event that only occurred once every few tens of thousands of years. It was an opportunity many Pseudo-Great Emperors never experienced even after waiting for their whole lives. It was not easy for the opportunity to reach the peak of the Martial Dao to come by, but Old Chen ended up in this state so quickly after the Grand Dao battle began.
He might have received help from his two companions and retained his life as a result, but his Soul had been gravely injured in the process. This kind of wound was something that completely cut off his future path toward the Martial Dao. Moreover, he would never recover from the trauma to his Soul for the rest of his life. Falling from the Pseudo-Great Emperor Realm was only a matter of time.
It could even be said that the Grand Dao battle no longer had anything to do with him. It was only thanks to many millennia of mental tempering and cultivation that he did not go insane. If anybody else went through something like that, there was a good chance they would have immediately gone crazy and committed suicide.
“This is simply my fate. However, I did find a piece of information, so my sacrifice was not in vain,” He gave a self-deprecating laugh, then he looked at his two companions with a solemn expression, “This information must be passed on no matter what. Inform our other companions and let them be vigilant. Don’t let them follow in my footsteps.”
“Don’t worry. We will definitely let the others know if we meet them.” The middle-aged woman nodded solemnly.
The other man sighed, “It’s such a pity. If only the Space Beacons could be used…”
They immediately discovered the drawbacks of being unable to use the Space Beacons when they arrived in this place, which ultimately resulted in the inability to transmit vital information to one another.
“The two of you have accompanied this old man for so many days. Don’t delay here any longer. Please go quickly. My sacrifice will be in vain if you miss this opportunity. I can only trouble the two of you to bring me along with you.”
The middle-aged woman replied, “Old Chen, if you can trust me, I will do everything possible to ensure your safety.”
Old Chen smiled, “How can I not believe you?”
The middle-aged woman nodded, took out a World Bead, and stretched out a hand towards him, “Please.”
Old Chen relaxed his mind and was instantly transported into the World Bead.
Inside the cave, the middle-aged woman and her only remaining companion exchanged a glance with each other before she spoke, “Let’s go. We need to meet up with the others as soon as possible.”
The man had no objection.
Inside the World Bead, Old Chen’s expression was gloomy as two tracks of tears made their way down his cheeks…
It had only been less than ten days since the Profound Heavens Temple opened, but great battles had already broken out everywhere. A fight would basically occur whenever the Pseudo-Great Emperors and Half-Saints encountered each other.
The Pseudo-Great Emperors of the Star Boundary were more restrained in their movements as there were more Half-Saints after all. Furthermore, they were completely clueless about the situation in the Profound Heavens Temple. They were disadvantaged due to the lack of information, so they did not want to cause too much trouble before they figured out what was going on. However, if they had an absolute advantage in numbers, such as in the case of Old Chen’s group, they didn’t mind killing off a few Half-Saints.
Compared to the Pseudo-Great Emperors, the Half-Saints were much more radical and acted ruthlessly as long as they had the slightest advantage.
In just a short span of ten days, as many as six Pseudo-Great Emperors and Half-Saints died in the Profound Heavens Temple, an extremely terrifying number. The war between the two worlds had gone on for so many years and involved hundreds of millions of cultivators, but even so, less than 20 Pseudo-Great Emperors and Half-Saints combined had died. The brutality and bloodshed of the Grand Dao battle were evident.
With the passage of time, the Pseudo-Great Emperors and Half-Saints continued to encounter companions from their respective camps and joined forces. No matter how big the Profound Heavens Temple was, there were limits to its size, so it was inevitable for them to occasionally run into each other when they were all in the same Sealed World.
Nevertheless, whether they were a Pseudo-Great Emperor or a Half-Saint, they would instantly be turned into mummified corpses if they died in the Profound Heavens Temple, as though they were being sucked dry by some kind of invisible force.
With the deaths of those Masters, the chaotic aura around the Giant Furnace located in the deepest part of the Profound Heavens Temple became more and more apparent. Accordingly, the darkness surrounding it also became much lighter.
*Hu…*
Inside the Small Sealed World, Yang Kai gently exhaled and the emerald light surrounding his body gradually disappeared. All the injuries he sustained during his battle with the Sand Demon Half-Saint were finally healed. That was not all; he had learned a great deal about his own shortcomings after digesting his experiences from his last battle.
After all, that was the first Half-Saint in peak condition whom he fought and killed all on his own. All sorts of details from the battle had been constantly replaying in Yang Kai’s mind over the past few days and he was confident that if he was given another chance now, he would be able to win against that Half-Saint with far less effort, though it would likely need to sustain quite severe injuries again. Unfortunately, there would always be a price to pay if he wanted to kill his opponent.
[Strength! I need greater strength! I am only a High-Rank Demon King right now. If I can become a Half-Saint…] Yang Kai clenched his fists tightly. There were countless opportunities in the Profound Heavens Temple, so who could say whether he might be able to become a Half-Saint in this place?
Inside the jungle, an approximately 10-metre-tall giant wolf darted from tree to tree. That giant wolf was covered in silver fur that was spotless, soft, and smooth. Moreover, it had a strong and noble figure. The aura it exuded was impressive, equivalent to a peak Monster King. Its pale blue eyes flickered with a cold light and it would look around its surroundings from time to time with an almost humanised expression.
At a certain moment, the silver giant wolf abruptly stopped in its tracks, cocked its ears, and listened to something carefully. Then, it turned around and ran off in another direction.
Over a thousand kilometres away from where the giant silver wolf was located, a violent energy was running rampant inside a deep mountain valley. There were several figures colliding and clashing with each other in a great battle. The impact of these powerful forces stirred up everything in the mountain valley, causing a hazy and dusty atmosphere to fill the air. It should have been a place with extremely beautiful scenery, but it was now a completely dilapidated mess.
Sword Qi flashed, followed by an icy burst of Sword Intent. The entire mountain valley was shrouded in ice and the ground was covered with frost. Amidst the clashing sounds, a slender figure was pushed back several dozen metres.
Bing Yun immediately stabilised her stance, her fair face flushing with a faint tinge of red. Suppressing the churning vitality in her body, she furrowed her brow together deeply as she stared hard at the two enemies overflowing with Demon Qi in front of her. One was tall and the other was short.
Understanding her situation, she sighed softly, [This is going to be very troublesome.]
She had encountered these two Half-Saints by chance in the Profound Heavens Temple. Unfortunately, she was alone while there were two enemies. Hence, there was nothing much to say about her situation. A battle immediately broke out between them and although Bing Yun was determined to escape, the opposing two Half-Saints naturally would never give her the chance to flee. They chased her all this way into this mountain valley and eventually blocked off all her escape routes. Forced into a corner, Bing Yun turned to confront them instead.
While she was also a Pseudo-Great Emperor, she only became one some ten years ago. How could she compare to the two veteran Half-Saints who had centuries of accumulation behind them, much less when the two of them were working together?
The way forward was rather rocky seeing as she could neither escape nor win against them. Even so, Bing Yun’s expression remained cold and indifferent. She had been cultivating for so many years now that she had long since become indifferent to the prospect of death. Along the way, she enjoyed all the beautiful sceneries of life and was also more than fortunate to participate in this event that only occurred once in tens of thousands of years. Even if she lost her life in the Profound Heavens Temple, she would not have any regrets.
The only thing she could not forget was Yang Kai. She had already made plans to protect him before she entered the Profound Heavens Temple. She was supposed to support him together with Yang Yan so that he could seize that one and only opportunity to become a Great Emperor and rescue the Star Boundary from its current crisis. Unfortunately, more than ten days had passed since she entered this place and while she came across many good things during this time, she could not find any trace of Yang Kai.
[But… Forget it. I can’t even take care of myself right now. There’s no time to worry about others.] Bing Yun took a small breath and raised her longsword as Ice Principles churned around her.
On the opposite side, the two Demon Race Half-Saints stared at Bing Yun coldly. The taller one had scarlet eyes and even his hair seemed to be dyed with fresh blood. It was obvious that he belonged to the Blood Demon Clan. Meanwhile, the shorter one was full of muscles and explosive power. He was clearly from the Strength Demon Clan.
The two Demons had joined forces to suppress Bing Yun which made this quite a simple matter. As long as nothing unexpected occurred, this battle was destined to end with her death. What the two of them had to do was finish this battle at the smallest price possible.
The Blood Demon stared at the flawless woman dressed in white in front of him, stuck out his tongue, and licked his lips, “There is a smell of ice. Her blood will definitely be delicious. Don’t kill her later. I want to drink every single drop of her blood.”
The Strength Demon coldly snorted, “Kill first, talk later.”
The woman in front of him was certainly a stunning beauty, it was just that… Having reached this level of cultivation and strength, what kind of woman had he not seen before? Needless to say, he was not going to let his guard down just because of a beautiful woman. No matter how beautiful the woman opposite him was, she was still a Pseudo-Great Emperor. She might be able to drag one of them down with her in a desperate counterattack.
“Fine, fine, how boring!” The Blood Demon did not dig his heels in on this matter. While speaking, he inadvertently glanced at a rocky outcropping not far away and smiled contemptuously.
Likewise, the Strength Demon also glanced in that direction, snorted coldly, and stopped paying attention to whatever was in that direction.
In the next moment, the Blood Demon transformed into a streak of bloody light and rushed towards Bing Yun, followed closely by the Strength Demon. Although the Strength Demon’s speed was slower, the ground shattered under his feet as he moved and his punch blasted out before he even arrived. Moreover, his fist was shrouded in an aura that seemed capable of shattering worlds.
Bing Yun’s expression remained unchanged as she drew a large circle in front of her with her long sword. Ice Principles filled the air along with a chill cold enough to penetrate the heart. The large circle was followed by a smaller circle, and then another even smaller circle. Circle after circle, the concentric rings intertwined, seemingly derived from each other with a sense of infinity.
The Blood Demon plunged straight into the endless Sword Circles and his bare figure was revealed in an instant. When the Sword Intent swept across him, his clothes were cut to pieces and countless small wounds appeared on his skin. However, the fresh blood that flowed from the wound seemed almost like a sentient creature, transforming into numerous Blood Snakes that penetrated the barrier formed by the Sword Circles and attacked Bing Yun directly.
Bing Yun frowned in response and while continuing to draw circles with her sword, she fluttered backwards in retreat.
Meanwhile, the Strength Demon emerged out of nowhere, falling from the sky and smashing his fists downward. There was a loud explosion and the interlocking Sword Circles lost their shape, opening a flaw in Bing Yun’s defences.
At that moment, the Blood Demon took the opportunity to slip through and let out a maniacal laugh, “Surrender without a fight if you know what’s good for you! You’ll suffer less that way!”
He was still fervently hoping to capture her alive in order to refine her blood little by little at a later date, but in the next moment, he frowned. A hostile look appeared on his face and he looked to the side and snapped, “An ant that doesn’t know its place!”
Just as he was about to make his move, a ten-metre-tall and unbelievably robust silver giant wolf suddenly leapt out of the rocky outcropping with its fangs bared. Its huge figure moved about with unimaginable agility as it opened its mouth wide to bite off the Blood Demon’s head.
The Blood Demon was so furious that he laughed instead. This silver giant wolf might look quite extraordinary, but it was still just a Monster Beast comparable to a Monster King in strength. He did not know if it had lost its mind or something for it to gain the courage to attack him.
In any case, he had already noticed the wolf when it first appeared in this place. The gap in their strength was massive after all. Besides, he was certain that he was not the only one who noticed it. His companion and the Human woman had most certainly noticed this wolf too. It was just that a Monster King had no right to intervene in a battle between a Pseudo-Great Emperor and Half-Saints, so the three of them had ignored it completely. At least… until this moment when the silver giant wolf suddenly attacked.
This situation was no different from a child rushing into an adult’s battle; thus, the Blood Demon was amazed by how ignorant and fearless this wolf was. He raised his hand and pointed, and while no force seemed to appear from his finger, the silver giant wolf lunging at him suddenly whimpered. All the blood in its body began to boil and its originally robust body began to swell up in a very short time. It didn’t take long before it exploded into a blood mist with a loud bang.
Blood Demons were masters when it came to blood manipulation. As long as blood existed, it would serve as the foundation for them to perform their Secret Techniques. Although the giant silver wolf was equivalent to a Monster King and was quite powerful, how could it withstand the force behind a Blood Demon Half-Saint’s attack?
Seeming to have expected this result, the Blood Demon ignored the giant silver wolf after pointing his finger at it and turned his attention back to Bing Yun. Contrary to his expectations, however, he suddenly saw a new figure out of the corner of his eyes. The figure appeared out of nowhere from the middle of the blood mist that used to be the silver wolf just now.
The Blood Demon turned pale in shock, but before he could even see what was going on, he turned into a bloody light and quickly retreated.
At that moment, a cold light was released and a spear shadow thrust out. The whole world seemed to become frozen for a moment.
Bing Yun’s Sword Intent had been disrupted, so her aura was slightly disordered as a result. Glancing at the figure who popped up in front of her without any warning, surprise flashed across her eyes; then, she immediately broke into a smile.
[So, that’s how it is! No wonder the Monster Beast on the level of a Monster King acted so foolishly and even dared to intervene in a battle that was beyond its level.] She originally thought that the reason behind the silver giant wolf’s behaviour was that it had yet to gain sentience. Now it would seem that it had nothing to do with its intelligence at all. It was obvious that it was being controlled by somebody else; after all, a Monster Beast would act according to instinct even before it gained sentience and no Monster Beast would be so stupid as to throw itself to its death.
When Bing Yun broke out into a smile, the Blood Demon who retreated previously widened his eyes abruptly instead, his scarlet pupils trembling violently as he gritted his teeth and shouted, “Yang Kai!”
The figure that had appeared without any warning from the middle of the blood mist was none other than the target that the Demon Saints had specifically ordered to kill!
At this moment, the person who was regarded as a thorn in the side by all the Demon Race Half-Saints was standing with his back to the Blood Demon. Yang Kai was holding a spear with both hands. In addition, there was a short and sturdy figure pierced through on the tip of his spear. That figure was the Strength Demon from before.
The Azure Dragon Spear and been thrust through the Strength Demon’s chest and out through his back, piercing a hole right through him. An injury of this level was not something that could be taken lightly even for a Half-Saint.
Hanging from the tip of the Azure Dragon Spear, the Strength Demon stared at Yang Kai who was standing less than a metre away from him, his eyes widened with a look of disbelief mixed with a trace of bloodthirsty hatred.
This had started off as a two-on-one battle where the Demons held the upper hand. Who could have expected Yang Kai to pop up out of nowhere? The perfect situation turned around in an instant because of his appearance.
Yang Kai tilted his head and glanced at the Strength Demon with a sinister smile curling the corners of his mouth, “Surprised? Happy to see me?”
The Strength Demon grunted, gripping the Azure Dragon Spear with both hands as he squirmed and exerted force into his hands, as if trying to pull it out.
“Well? Say something!” Yang Kai flicked his wrist and a Dragon Roar immediately sounded from the Azure Dragon Spear. A wave of Supreme Dragon Pressure, along with Yang Kai’s Martial Truth flooded into the Strength Demon’s body through his open wound like a raging tide.
The Strength Demon opened his mouth and spat out a large amount of blood, his expression suddenly becoming livid.
Fresh blood sprayed down and drenched Yang Kai’s face, but he did not flinch. The crimson liquid only made his smile seem even more wicked than before, as if a malevolent Devil Lord was standing here.
The aura coming from Yang Kai made Bing Yun, who was standing behind him, frown slightly and she couldn’t help feeling a bit uncomfortable.
“Die!” The Strength Demon suddenly opened his mouth and roared. He stopped trying to pull himself from the spear and instead used it to propel himself closer and smashed his fist down on Yang Kai. His desperate blow was fuelled by all the strength he could muster and space shattered in response.
Unperturbed, Yang Kai held the spear in one hand, clenched his other hand into a fist, and punched. When the two fists clashed against each other, a huge shockwave spread out into the surroundings from where they stood.