“Palace Master!” Hua Qing Si elegantly bowed.
Yang Kai nodded, “Do you know about the situation?”
Hua Qing Si nodded in acknowledgement, “Sir Embodiment has already informed me. If Palace Master needs High Heaven Palace’s cooperation, please ask!”
Yang Kai shook his head, “In this war, everyone participating is an Open Heaven Realm Master, so the Star Boundary won’t be able to help. You just have to take care of yourself.”
Hua Qing Si stated solemnly, “I understand, then please be careful.”
“En, let me check your Dao Seal!” Yang Kai stretched out his hand and placed it on her forehead. Hua Qing Si quickly relaxed her mind and body, allowing Yang Kai to examine her.
A moment later, Yang Kai withdrew his hand and smiled at Hua Qing Si, “Wonderful, you can advance directly to the Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm in the future!”
Although he had a speculation in his mind after investigating the situation of his parents’ Dao Seals, it was finally confirmed after examining Hua Qing Si’s Dao Seal.
Hua Qing Si’s aptitude was undoubtedly better than his parents’. His parents’ Dao Seals were stable enough to condense Fourth-Order Elements, or even Fifth-Order Elements, so there was no reason for Hua Qing Si to not be able to.
As expected, Hua Qing Si’s Dao Seal was stabler than his parents’. In other words, the risk of breaking through to the Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm was basically non-existent for her.
“Is there anyone else in the Star Boundary who has condensed their Dao Seals?” Yang Kai asked.
Hua Qing Si shook her head, “Right now, there is only your parents, myself, and Palace Master Lan Xun; just us four.”
When Yang Kai had last left the Star Boundary, he basically took all the Emperor Realm Masters with him in one fell swoop, and the ones who remained weren’t very strong. Although the cultivation of the Star Boundary’s cultivators had quickly risen all these years with the World Tree’s nourishment and the recovery of the Star Boundary, cultivation still required some time. The Star Boundary cultivators could only condense their Dao Seals by raising their cultivation to the peak of the Emperor Realm.
As for Lan Xun’s condition, Yang Kai didn’t have time to carefully investigate it at the time, but after thinking about it, compared to Hua Qing Si, her aptitude was already top-notch.
“This matter…” Yang Kai wanted to say that this matter should be kept under wraps for now, but then he remembered that Heavenly Sword Union was nearly upon them, and if he couldn’t stop this formidable enemy, he would be doomed. At that time, even the Star Boundary would find it difficult to survive, so he quickly changed his mind and stated, “Wait for my return.”
Hua Qing Si nodded her understanding.
Yang Kai gave Embodiment a few more instructions before taking out a Space Beacon and testing it out.
As expected, he was unable to directly return to the Territory Gate. Although the Space Beacon allowed people to instantly teleport from one beacon to another it was paired with, there was still a limit to their range.
The Territory Gate was trillions of kilometres away from the Star Boundary, a distance far beyond its limit.
The reason he was able to instantly return to the Star Boundary from the Territory Gate was undoubtedly because of his connection with the Star Boundary itself. It was equivalent to the power of the Star Boundary pulling him back, but it was impossible to use this process in reverse. There was no place for him to borrow strength on the Territory Gate’s side after all.
However, this was exactly what he wanted. Although Heavenly Sword Union shouldn’t have been able to arrive at the Star Boundary’s Great Territory before him, Yang Kai had to take precautions to be on the safe side.
While returning to the Territory Gate, he could also investigate the route.
In a flash, Yang Kai left High Heaven Palace and arrived in the depths of the void, rushing towards the Territory Gate. Every once in a while, Yang Kai would place a Space Beacon for emergencies.
Along the way, everything was calm and peaceful, and there was no sign of any Heavenly Sword Union cultivators, causing Yang Kai to slowly relax.
After leaving behind a dozen or so Space Beacons, Yang Kai finally returned to the Territory Gate.
Void Land’s Open Heaven Realm Masters waiting by the Territory Gate immediately noticed Yang Kai’s return, so Zhan Wu Hen and the others surrounded him and asked with concern, “Is everything alright on the Star Boundary’s side?”
Yang Kai sorted out his thoughts and told them everything he was able to learn.
Many of the Great Emperors were shocked.
“That’s great.” Mo Huang smiled with relief, “The World Tree is actually so amazing. Not only can it swallow the Power of the Stars and void to nourish the World Energy of the Star Boundary, it can even allow one to cultivate more easily and condense a stronger Dao Seal.”
Duan Hong Chen also wore a look of fascination, “If that’s the case, wouldn’t the Star Boundary give birth to many Open Heaven Realm seedlings in the future?”
Zhan Wu Hen, on the other hand, was a bit worried, “Both fortune and misfortune lie together, if we don’t handle it well, great wealth can sometimes turn into disaster. Don’t forget why Zuo Quan Hui is coming to the Star Boundary.”
All of the Great Emperors were quick-witted, so when they heard Zhan Wu Hen’s words, how could they not know what he was worried about? It was like a bucket of cold water had been poured all over the excitement in their hearts, calming everyone down.
“We have to keep the changes of the Star Boundary under wraps.” Zhan Wu Hen looked at Yang Kai solemnly, “Otherwise, I’m afraid even the Cave Heavens and Paradises will become greedy.”
Even with Yang Ying Feng and Dong Su Zhu’s rather poor aptitudes, they now had the qualifications to break through to the Fourth-Order or even Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm. If a true top talent were to grow up in the Star Boundary, it would be extremely easy for him or her to advance to the Sixth-Order, and it might even be possible for a Heaven defying genius to reach the Seventh-Order.
The current Star Boundary could simply be called a cradle for Open Heaven Realm Masters! It could easily produce a large number of Open Heaven Realm seedlings, and this was only the beginning. Who knew what could become of the Star Boundary given more time?
What Zhan Wu Hen said was definitely not an exaggeration. If the Cave Heavens and Paradises came to know about the situation of the Star Boundary, everyone would probably want to take a share of it. At that time, would the Star Boundary still be the Star Boundary?
Not to mention, there was still the World Tree in the Star Boundary. Although the World Tree did not show any signs of fruiting, who could guarantee that it would not produce World Fruits after countless years? This was the only Heaven-defying treasure in the world that could allow an Open Heaven Realm Master to advance an Order directly without any side-effects, as well as increase their natural limit. Who would not covet such a treasure?
As Zhan Wu Hen spoke, he unconsciously glanced towards Qing Kui and Su Ying Xue.
Void Land’s forces were comprised entirely of their own people, so they would keep all the secrets to themselves if there were any. The only two outsiders were Qing Kui and Su Ying Xue from Yin-Yang Cave Heaven.
“Senior Brother Qing and Senior Sister Su are both trustworthy people, I’ll remind them later,” Yang Kai stated.
Zhan Wu Hen shook his head, “I’m afraid this matter won’t be as simple as you think; after all, they are disciples of Yin-Yang Cave Heaven. Although they have some friendship with you and are willing to keep some secrets for you, there are always exceptions.”
Yang Kai couldn’t help laughing, “Then what should we do? Senior Brother Qing and Senior Sister Su came to help Void Land in its time of need, we can’t just kill them to silence them.”
Zhan Wu Hen shook his head and stated, “Naturally, I’m not asking you to do such an ungrateful thing. What I want to say is that instead of letting them hide the situation of the Star Boundary from Yin-Yang Cave Heaven, it would be better to let them know the truth and use the Yin-Yang Cave Heaven’s power to protect the Star Boundary.”
Mo Huang quickly interrupted, “No!”
Zhan Wu Hen turned to look at him, whereupon Mo Huang explained, “Yin-Yang Cave Heaven is one of the 36 Cave Heavens. Such a huge entity must have its own factions. Qing Kui and Su Ying Xue are part of Xu Ling Gong’s lineage, and with the status of a Yin-Yang Cave Heaven Son-in-law, Xu Ling Gong naturally views Yang Kai in a favourable light. For small matters, everything is easy to discuss, but I’m afraid that Yin-Yang Cave Heaven’s other High-Rank Open Heaven Masters will have some other intentions. What if the person sent by Yin-Yang Cave Heaven to investigate is not Xu Ling Gong?”
This was also a problem, causing everyone to fall into contemplation.
Yang Kai clapped his hands and diverted the topic, “Let’s talk about this later. Right now, the ones we need to deal with are Heavenly Sword Union and Zuo Quan Hui. If my guess is right, they should be arriving soon.”
All the Great Emperors nodded slightly, “Good!”
20 Sixth-Order Masters and 1,300 cultivators below the Sixth-Order, almost all the Open Heaven Realm Masters from Void Land, were quietly waiting in ambush outside the Territory Gate for Heavenly Sword Union.
Now that things had reached this point, there was no need to conceal their strength anymore. Yang Kai had hidden Iron Blood Great Emperor and the others for this long to catch Zuo Quan Hui off guard; however, while man plans, the Heavens laugh. Hei He and Lan Xun had met with an accident, and Zuo Quan Hui had learned of the location of the Star Boundary and the World Tree. The battlefield inevitably shifted from Void Territory to the Star Boundary’s Territory.
In this battle, they would definitely give it their all. In this battle, one side would die!
The newly advanced Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master naturally couldn’t be hidden any longer.
Waiting was the greatest torture.
For half a month, the Territory Gate remained still and calm.
Yang Kai almost suspected that his judgement was wrong and that Zuo Quan Hui had no intention of coming to the Star Boundary, or else why would he have not seen his shadow even after such a long time?
However, there was a violent surge of energy a few days later. When Yang Kai opened his eyes, he saw the Territory Gate glowing and a colossal illusory phantom slowly emerging from it.
“They’re here!” Yang Kai’s eyes went wide as he raised his hand and summoned the Azure Dragon Spear. At the same time, all the Open Heaven Realm Masters of Void Land also noticed the changes of the Territory Gate and began circulating their World Force. In a flash, the void began to tremble and distort.
What everyone saw was Heavenly Sword Union’s Heavenly Sword Palace emerging from the Territory Gate.
A moment later, the Heavenly Sword Palace rushed out, entering the Great Territory where the Star Boundary was located.
Yang Kai raised his spear and pushed his World Force madly while shouting, “Kill!”
A Golden Crow let out a cry as a Great Sun rose into the sky from behind Yang Kai’s back. In this sun, a three-legged exotic bird could vaguely be seen flying about.
Facing such a large artifact like the Heavenly Sword Palace, Yang Kai did not hesitate to use his Golden Crow Casts the Sun Divine Manifestation in the opening salvo.
The Great Sun took its spot on the Azure Dragon Spear as Yang Kai thrust it forward, ignoring the barriers of space as it crashed towards the enemy fortress.
At the same time, rays of light from various Divine Abilities and artifacts shot towards the Heavenly Sword Palace like meteors.
In that instant, the entire void lit up as if it was daytime as waves of World Forces surged and crashed out!
When the Heavenly Sword Palace was shuttling through the Territory Gate, they had naturally activated a protective barrier, but under the might of the countless Divine Abilities and artifacts, this barrier didn’t even last for a breath before it shattered like a bubble.
The people from Heavenly Sword Palace seemed to panic for a moment. Although they had guessed that they would be ambushed after crossing through the Territory Gate, no one had expected this ambush to be so ruthless.
As far as the eye could see, there were nothing but enemies around them and all of them asked the same question, how did so many people arrive here ahead of them?
Zuo Quan Hui, who was sitting in the Heavenly Sword Palace’s main hall, wore a gloomy expression as he quickly formed a series of hand seals to control the Heavenly Sword Palace’s Grand Array.
He knew that Yang Kai was proficient in the Dao of Space and could travel extremely fast. If Yang Kai insisted on pursuing him, the Heavenly Sword Palace would definitely be unable to escape.
However, he didn’t see any signs of Yang Kai chasing after him along the way, so he guessed that the latter had chosen another route to return to the Star Boundary to set up defences.
And facts proved that it was indeed the case. The Heavenly Sword Palace had just arrived in this Great Territory when it was ambushed.
He had already expected that Yang Kai would bring some helpers, but he hadn’t expected there to be so many! Over 1,000 Open Heaven Realm Masters. Even if they were ants in his eyes, they were Open Heaven Realm Masters, nonetheless.
[How did these people get here? Even if Yang Kai is a master of the Dao of Space, he couldn’t bring so many people with him.]
With a series of hand seals, the Heavenly Sword Palace’s defensive Arrays began to activate layer by layer, but they shattered and collapsed one by one. The entire Heavenly Sword Palace surroundings were crazily flashing, and it was violently shaking, causing everyone to lose their footing.
“Meet the enemy!” Zuo Quan Hui shouted, issuing a command.
Although the Heavenly Sword Palace was extraordinary, in the end, it was still just a large-scale palace artifact. While it could defend, attack, and fly, there were limits to everything. Right now, Zuo Quan Hui was still a bit wary and didn’t dare to appear, so he could only rely on his subordinates to defend.
Suddenly, a golden light flashed across his eyes. Zuo Quan Hui looked up, and saw a Great Sun at the tip of a spear smashing towards the Heavenly Sword Palace. It even left scorched marks in the void everywhere it passed through, which remained for a very long time.
[Divine Manifestation!]
Zuo Quan Hui coldly snorted before raising his hand and pointing towards the approaching sun.
The pressure of a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master spread out as a streak of light shot from his fingertip. In the next instant, the sun collapsed as a wave of violent energy spread outward.
Zuo Quan Hui, who was sitting in the main hall, swayed slightly and his brow twitched. Although they were enemies, Zuo Quan Hui had to admit that Yang Kai was a once in 10,000 years genius, actually able to use a Divine Manifestation when he was just in the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm. Zuo Quan Hui himself had yet to comprehend his own Divine Manifestation; to a certain extent, he was actually inferior to a Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master.
Furthermore, rumour had it that Yang Kai had comprehended this Divine Manifestation when he was still in the Emperor Realm, which was simply unbelievable.
With Yang Kai being in the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm and having his Divine Manifestation, he was able to unleash an attack comparable to a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master. Although Zuo Quan Hui managed to block this attack fairly easily, he couldn’t help but feel his blood and energy roil slightly.
[He is already so powerful when he is just in the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm. If that brat were to break through to the Seventh Order, I would not be his opponent.] Thinking so, Zuo Quan Hui’s killing intent became even stronger. [I have to kill him before he breaks through to the Seventh Order no matter what; otherwise, I will really die without a burial.]
Multicoloured lights flashed as an overwhelming barrage of attacks flew towards the Heavenly Sword Palace.
Heavenly Sword Union naturally wouldn’t sit back and wait for death, so after Zuo Quan Hui gave the order, they immediately began to counterattack.
In a flash, both sides started exchanging attacks as World Force flowed out in all directions, churning up the void and warping space as a result.
However, not a single person was injured or killed despite it being such an intense battlefield.
Needless to say, whether it was Sixth-Order Masters or those below that realm, Void Land had more people than the other party. The Divine Abilities and Secret Arts from Heavenly Sword Palace were intercepted before they could even approach.
The Open Heaven Realm Masters of Heavenly Sword Union also had their own advantages, which was that they could hide inside the Heavenly Sword Palace. As long as the Heavenly Sword Palace was not destroyed, they would have a layer of impregnable protection and would not need to worry about being killed.
However, how could the Heavenly Sword Palace, which had a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master assuming command, be so easily destroyed? This massive artifact was the fruit of unimaginable resources and manpower of Heavenly Sword Union.
Most of the Divine Abilities and Secret Arts aimed at the Heavenly Sword Palace were intercepted, and only a few of them actually managed to hit the palace itself. However, due to the Spirit Array barriers, it was difficult for Void Land to cause much damage in a short time.
On the battlefield, Void Land had the absolute advantage, but the Heavenly Sword Palace was like a hedgehog, making it difficult for anyone to swallow. If this continued for a long time, Void Land would be pushed into a great disadvantage.
The Azure Dragon Spear in Yang Kai’s hand danced as he used his Limitless Spear Techniques freely. Each spear strike was powerful enough to shatter a Star and break through a layer of the Heavenly Sword Palace’s defences, but the Heavenly Sword Palace’s Arrays kept regenerating, annoying him greatly.
At the same time, inside Heavenly Sword Palace, Zi Yan and the others also noticed that something was wrong. After fighting each other for more than a year, they had long known that Void Land had both strength and numbers on their side, but the previous Void Land forces were not strong to this extent.
After observing for a while, they finally discovered that there were some Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters on Void Land side they had never seen before! And there were not just one or two, but there were as many as eight!
These eight were Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, not eight cabbages one could find in a local market! Where did they come from?
After a quick count, there were actually 20 Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters in Void Land’s side!
All of Heavenly Sword Union members were shocked. They only had ten such Masters on their side, so the other party had twice their number. If it weren’t for Zuo Quan Hui presiding over this place, everyone would have fled long ago.
“Master!” Zi Yan called out to Zuo Quan Hui, while defending and attacking.
“I know!” Zuo Quan Hui sat still, but his eyes were scanning the surroundings as they shone brightly, “Astonishing, simply astonishing! All of them have just advanced to the Sixth Order, that Star Boundary really does carry great fortune with it!”
As the situation was quite tense, the others failed to pay much attention to the details, but Zuo Quan Hui, on the other hand, could tell with a single glance that the eight new Sixth-Order auras were unstable, meaning all of them had just advanced to the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm recently.
However, Zuo Quan Hui didn’t think that these people had advanced straight to the Sixth Order; after all, that would make them Core Disciples if they were placed in any of the Cave Heavens and Paradises with such aptitude. How could there be so many genius-level talents in Void Land?
The only explanation he could think of was the World Fruit!
Perhaps these people had advanced to the Fifth Order and consumed a Mid-Rank World Fruit before reaching the Sixth-Order.
Suddenly, he remembered something; rumour had it that Yang Kai had achieved the Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm outside the Shadowless Cave Heaven. It was impossible for him to fake this in front of so many Masters, but he had actually reached the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm when he participated in the Dao Theory Assembly.
Previously, Zuo Quan Hui had been unable to understand what was going on, but now everything was clear to him, or so he thought.
[So it turns out that Yang Kai consumed a World Fruit a long time ago to raise his cultivation to the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm.]
“Martial Nephew Yin, according to your investigation, has the World Tree in the Star Boundary borne fruits?” Zuo Quan Hui asked.
Yin Xin Zhao pondered for a moment before replying, “I don’t know. Although I used a Soul Searching Technique on that woman, the information I obtained was incomplete. I only know that there is a World Tree in the Star Boundary.”
Zuo Quan Hui gently nodded his understanding, “If that’s the case, then it must be true. The World Tree has indeed borne fruits. I really didn’t expect for such a miracle to occur in this remote backwater!”
In his opinion, since the World Tree had already bloomed and borne fruits, the people of Void Land must have benefited from it. Since that was the case, it was not impossible for him to obtain a High-Rank World Fruit here. If he could obtain a High-Rank World Fruit, he would be able to instantly advance to the Eighth Order. At that time, he would be able to destroy Void Land with a flick of his finger. Even if he were to face off against the Divine Spirit Zhu Jiu Yin and Bi Xi, he would still have the strength to fight back!
The temptation of a High-Rank World Fruit was incomparably great. Originally, he had been somewhat afraid that Zhu Jiu Yin would follow Yang Kai here and ambush him, but now he couldn’t care about that. No matter what, he was an Elder of Thousand Cranes Paradise. He might be branded as a traitor by Thousand Crane Paradise now, but everyone knew what was going on behind the scenes. Zhu Jiu Yin might not even have the courage to kill him.
Thinking along the lines, Zuo Quan Hui made up his mind and changed his hand seal. The next moment, the Heavenly Sword Palace let out a thrumming sound as it flew straight towards the Star Boundary, forcefully resisting the bombardment of the many Open Heaven Realm Masters in the void.
“Stop him!” Yang Kai shouted at the sight of this. The shockwaves from the battle between Open Heaven Realm Masters were too great, so if the Heavenly Sword Palace really rushed to the vicinity of the Star Boundary, Void Land would be forced to be in a passive situation. At that time, Void Land’s hands would be tied while Heavenly Sword Union would be able to fight without fear.
Stronger and more fearsome attacks rained down on the Heavenly Sword Palace from everywhere. Even though Heavenly Sword Union’s numerous Open Heaven Realm Masters tried their best to stop them, they were still unable to do so completely.
Divine Abilities and Secret Arts landed on the Heavenly Sword Palace one after another, causing its barriers to flicker and shatter. However, new barriers were erected in the next moment, spreading out layer by layer and protecting everyone inside the Heavenly Sword Palace from the oncoming attacks.
Seeing this, Yang Kai’s eyes cracked wide open. He instantly teleported to the front of the Heavenly Sword Palace before shouting, “Dragon Transformation!”
The next moment, a deafening dragon roar resounded as a huge Golden Dragon head appeared behind Yang Kai before it plunged into his body.
Suddenly, a series of explosions rang out as Yang Kai’s figure swelled under the stunned gazes of Heaven Sword Union’s Open Heaven Realm Masters, soon becoming a several thousand metres long colossal Half-Dragon in the blink of an eye.
His entire body was covered in Dragon Scales, and his hands had transformed into Dragon Claws. The Dragon Tail on his back swung back and forth, and Dragon Horns grew on his forehead. And when he shook his head, his Dragon Beard fluttered about.
The next moment, a rich Dragon Pressure spread into the surroundings!
What was even more shocking was that the Azure Dragon Spear in Yang Kai’s hand had also grown bigger!
The massive Heavenly Sword Palace was actually shorter than Yang Kai who had assumed his Half-Dragon Form.
Seemingly affected by Yang Kai’s Dragon Pressure, another loud and sonorous Dragon Roar reverberated as Zhu Qing suddenly transformed into a Dragon that was several thousand metres long as well.
This Dragon was crimson red, giving the impression as if it was covered in raging flames.
Compared to Yang Kai’s Half-Dragon form, Zhu Qing’s Dragon Form was clearly that of a Pureblood.
Zhu Qing soared straight up before unleashing a flaming Dragon Breath straight at the Heavenly Sword Palace.
At the same time, Yang Kai thrust his spear out.
The huge Azure Dragon Spear crashed into the Heavenly Sword Palace’s defensive Arrays without any fancy moves. The Azure Dragon Spear was already a peerless weapon, and coupled with Yang Kai’s fearsome strength that could shake the Sun and Moon, the defensive Arrays were pierced through like paper.
The people in the Heavenly Sword Palace were thrown into panic as the enormous spear shadows rapidly filled their vision and an imminent threat of death gripped their minds.
At the critical moment, a cold snort rang out from within the Heavenly Sword Palace as the Dragon Pressure collapsed.
Zuo Quan Hui, who was in the main hall, promptly lifted his sword before swinging it down. His movements were graceful and elegant.
A one-metre-long sword wave cut through the air, directly slicing into Yang Kai’s Half-Dragon Form.
The next moment, a fountain of blood gushed out!
A gaping wound so deep that even his bones could be seen appeared on Yang Kai’s shoulder as a rain of Golden Dragon Blood spluttered across the void. Zuo Quan Hui’s attack was clearly extraordinary despite its simplicity. It would have been disastrous for Yang Kai had he not tilted his head at the last moment.
Nonetheless, he did not retreat!
He thrust the Azure Dragon Spear forward as if he was unable to feel any pain.
*Hong hong hong…*
One after another, the Heavenly Sword Palace’s defences were broken through, even its walls were pierced through. Over a dozen Open Heaven Realm Masters who couldn’t dodge in time were swept up by the spear’s power and exploded into a blood mist before they could even make a sound. When their Small Universes collapsed, World Force dissipated and flowed out into the void.
Before Yang Kai could even pull out his spear, he saw the Heavenly Sword Palace suddenly light up, shooting a beam straight at his face.
This beam of light came out of nowhere, but its power was extremely terrifying, comparable to an attack from a High-Rank Open Heaven Master.
Yang Kai couldn’t even figure out whether this beam of light had been shot by Zuo Quan Hui or if it had been launched using the Heavenly Sword Palace’s Arrays.
Yang Kai instinctively raised his spear to block and the next moment, he let out a suppressed grunt as he was sent flying out.
At the same time, countless beams of light shot out from the interior of the Heavenly Sword Palace. Although they were not as terrifying as the one that attacked Yang Kai, each one was still comparable to an attack from a Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master.
There were more than 1,000 such beams of light!
Such an attack was obviously not something mere Heavenly Sword Union disciples could release, so it was definitely the power of the palace’s Grand Array.
At the sight of this, Void Land’s disciples, who had been attacking from the periphery of the Heavenly Sword Palace, didn’t dare hesitate and quickly used their defensive Divine Abilities and artifacts to protect themselves.
However, there would always be some flaws.
Blood splashed as dozens of Void Land disciples were pierced through. Most of them instantly lost their lives while a few with tenacious will managed to hang on. Their fellow disciples quickly responded and hurriedly retreated from the battlefield with them to find a place for them to recover.
Even Zhu Qing, who had revealed her Dragon Form, had suffered a blow. Fortunately, Flower Shadow Great Emperor had protected her at the last moment, so she was only slightly injured.
For a moment, Void Land’s Open Heaven Realm Masters no longer dared to approach the Heavenly Sword Palace and retreated one after another.
This was the terrifying aspect of a large-scale palace artifact. This kind of artifact was like a moving fortress, with both offensive and defensive capabilities, making it extremely difficult to deal with.
This was the first time the people from Void Land had come into contact with such a weapon, so they were not experienced enough to deal with it, resulting in some unnecessary damage.
The next moment, a Dragon Roar reverberated across the void as Yang Kai, who had been sent flying, returned in a flash. When he saw the casualties among his forces, he immediately shouted, “Everyone below the Fifth Order, retreat and coordinate from afar; the rest of you, follow me!”
As soon as he finished speaking, he took the lead and raised his massive Azure Dragon Spear before smashing it down.
Immediately, a transparent barrier appeared above the Heavenly Sword Palace, but it was unable to block the fearsome might of the blow. The barrier shattered as the fearsome force slammed into the Heavenly Sword Palace like a meteor, causing it to sink slightly.
Yang Kai’s figure flickered as he appeared directly below the Heavenly Sword Palace and swept out with his spear again.
A blinding flash of light surged as the Heavenly Sword Palace was knocked back again.
After a few rounds, several Small Universes collapsed and the aura of World Force dissipating came from inside the Heavenly Sword Palace. Obviously, some people had been killed.
Meanwhile, Void Land’s Open Heaven Realm Masters never stopped attacking.
However, those below the Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm could only support them from a distance, and their usefulness was limited. The only ones who could pose a real threat to the Heavenly Sword Palace were the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters other than Yang Kai, and the dozens of Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters.
Even after the original advantage in numbers had been levelled, Heavenly Sword Union’s cultivators were able to resist the oncoming attacks and defended themselves. With the exception of a few unlucky fools who had died due to carelessness, the number of casualties for the time being remained mostly unchanged.
Previously, Void Land was able to pose a certain degree of threat to the Heavenly Sword Palace’s occupants by relying on their numerical advantage, but now that most had to attack from a distance, very few of them were able to achieve anything. Basically, all of them were intercepted halfway.
Furthermore, Zuo Quan Hui attacked from time to time as well, forcing Yang Kai to be cautious in making moves lest innocents get hurt. Although Yang Kai could pose some level of threat to the Heavenly Sword Palace, it was still difficult for him to stop it from advancing towards the Star Boundary.
If this situation continued, if they were unable to destroy the Heavenly Sword Palace, the Star Boundary would certainly face a great catastrophe.
Yang Kai flew into a rage and shouted, “Old dog, if you have the guts, come out and fight! What kind of coward hides away inside his palace when the enemy is before him?”
Zuo Quan Hui’s response was an even fiercer attack, forcing Yang Kai to dodge.
As they clashed and cursed, both sides fought in the void for half a month, but neither side was able to do anything to the other. On the contrary, they were getting closer to the Star Boundary.
Yang Kai’s heart was gripped with anxiety, but there was nothing he could do. He was now a Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm, but he still felt powerless.
All of the Great Emperors were feeling the same! They communicated with each other via their Divine Senses, discussing how to deal with the enemy, but in this situation, none of their plans could be used.
The Star Boundary was in danger!
After a few more days, Yang Kai could already see the Star Boundary and Demon Realm, the two Universe Worlds in the distance. In the periphery of the Heavenly Sword Palace, Yang Kai was no longer able to maintain his Dragon Form and had reverted back to his Human Form.
Maintaining his Dragon Transformation for a long time was quite taxing on him.
After more than half a month of fierce fighting, Yang Kai’s entire body was covered in blood and his murderous intent was seemingly tangible as it lingered around his body, turning his surroundings as cold as ice.
“Is that the Star Boundary?”
Inside the Heavenly Sword Palace’s main hall, Zuo Quan Hui raised his brow slightly as he gazed ahead. When the Star Boundary entered his eyes, he couldn’t spot anything special about it and couldn’t understand why a World Tree would appear here.
Although Yin Xin Zhao had managed to obtain some information from Lan Xun, Soul-Searching Techniques had drawbacks. Even if his strength greatly surpassed hers, Lin Xin Zhao had no way of knowing what kind of information he could obtain from Lan Xun as the process was quite violent and destructive. In other words, what he could obtain from Lan Xun with a Soul-Searching Technique was entirely up to luck.
Just like how he did not know if the World Tree had blossomed and borne fruit or not, he also did not know that this World Tree was planted by Yang Kai, causing Zuo Quan Hui to think that it was naturally bred.
The World Tree was undoubtedly extremely eye-catching, so when Zuo Quan Hui laid eyes on the giant tree standing in the middle of the Star Boundary, his eyes gleamed with joy, “It really is a World Tree!”
He had never seen a real World Tree before and had only read about it in a few ancient books, but when he laid eyes on it, he saw that the entire Star Boundary was filled with thick vitality. Looking at the Star Boundary from the distance, it actually looked completely green.
If this Divine Tree was not a World Tree, then what could it be?
After taking a closer look, Zuo Quan Hui furrowed his brow a little. He actually didn’t see any World Fruits. [Perhaps it’s because I’m too far away that I can’t spot them, or maybe they have been harvested by someone. In any case, as long as I can get my hands on this Star Boundary, the World Tree and its World Fruits will all be mine.]
At the same time, Pei Wen Xuan, who was fending off an enemy at some place in the Heavenly Sword Palace, stared at a different spot.
Unlike Zuo Quan Hui who was looking at the Star Boundary, he was looking at the Demon Realm!
For some reason, he felt an extremely familiar aura from the Demon Realm, as if there was something there that was connected to him.
On top of that, the Demonic Qi of this Universe World was obviously extremely compatible with his Small Universe. In other words, he could directly devour the Demon Realm’s World Force to strengthen his foundation.
If he could do so, it would definitely advance his cultivation, saving him a great amount of time!
He had come to help Zuo Quan Hui this time mainly because he had some personal grievances with Yang Kai and wanted to use Zuo Quan Hui’s strength to deal with Yang Kai to vent his anger.
But much to his surprise, he actually encountered this kind of opportunity.
The energy of an entire Universe World was enough to save him several hundred, or even 1,000 years of hard cultivation. He believed that after Zuo Quan Hui had destroyed Void Land and captured the Star Boundary, he would not be stingy about giving this Demon Realm to him.
[I managed to get a hold of a treasure this time!] While Pei Wen Xuan was secretly excited, a streak of light suddenly shot over from the side. It was the Diving Ability cast by a Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master from Void Land called Hua Yong. He waved his hand as his Demon Qi surged, cancelling the oncoming attack.
“How did the Star Boundary become like this? And what’s going on with the World Tree!”
While he was trying his best to block the Heavenly Sword Palace’s advance, when Yang Kai glanced towards the Star Boundary, his heart was filled with shock.
He had returned to the Star Boundary a month ago, but it had undergone a massive change since then!
While things were different the previous time he returned, it was certainly not to this extent!
The Star Boundary was currently covered in extremely rich vitality, causing the entire Universe World to appear warm and inviting. Everyone gasped in amazement at the sight of this.
Even from hundreds of millions of kilometres away, Yang Kai could still feel the vitality of the Star Boundary.
And the World Tree!
Although it was already tens of thousands of metres tall back then, it was obviously taller than before, almost twice the size it was compared to just a month ago. It was now nearly 100,000 meters tall, truly making it an existence that held up the Heavens themselves.
[The changes in the Star Boundary are definitely related to the World Tree’s growth and nourishment. But why has the World Tree’s feedback become so much stronger in this one month, even allowing it to grow to such a height?]
Yang Kai couldn’t understand!
At that moment, fluctuations of a Small Universe collapsing came from the Heavenly Sword Palace, indicating the death of another Open Heaven Realm Master.
Although the Heavenly Sword Palace’s defences were strong, the joint attack of 20 Sixth-Order and dozens of Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters was no joke. Along the way, at least 100 Open Heaven Realm Masters of Heavenly Sword Union had lost their lives. On the other hand, because the Void Land Open Heaven Realm Masters below the Fifth Order were all helping from a distance, their side hadn’t suffered many losses, with the exception of the couple dozen people who had died in the initial clash.
However, the Sixth-Order and Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were all injured and exhausted at this point.
The next moment, Yang Kai suddenly looked towards the Heavenly Sword Palace in shock before his gaze shifted back to the Star Boundary.
When the unknown Open Heaven Realm Master from Heavenly Sword Union died, his Small Universe collapsed and his World Force dispersed. Almost immediately after, Yang Kai could clearly feel this free World Force being drawn straight towards the Star Boundary, pouring into the World Tree where it was cleanly absorbed.
In a flash, realization dawned upon Yang Kai.
When Heavenly Sword Union’s Open Heaven Realm Masters died previously, Yang Kai had vaguely sensed the dispersion of their World Force, but he hadn’t paid much attention to it at the time. Now, when he observed more closely, he realized that this free World Force was clearly flowing towards the Star Boundary.
He was able to feel it so easily this time because they were now much closer to the Star Boundary.
In the past, the growth of the World Tree was mainly fueled by the energy absorbed from the Stars and void in the Great Territory where the Star Boundary was located.
Its growth had been slow because such energy wasn’t very rich.
However, during this month-long battle, over 100 Open Heaven Realm Masters from Heavenly Sword Union and several dozen from Void Land had died. After their deaths, their Small Universes had collapsed and their World Force had dispersed into the void before being drawn in and absorbed by the World Tree.
Naturally, the World Tree would be able to rapidly grow with nourishment like this. And owing to the corresponding feedback, the Star Boundary had also reaped great advantages!
This was why the World Tree and the Star Boundary had undergone such massive changes.
This was what Yang Kai believed; otherwise, there was no way he could explain what he was seeing.
This kind of change would undoubtedly bring unimaginable benefits to the World Tree and the Star Boundary, but with such a powerful enemy in front of him, Yang Kai did not have the time to consider such things.
In a flash, Yang Kai instantly moved right before the Heavenly Sword Palace and pointed his spear forward. A determined and serious look could be seen on his face.
They were only ten million kilometres away from the Star Boundary now, so if he allowed the Heavenly Sword Palace to continue advancing, the Star Boundary would definitely fall into enemy hands. They had to stop the Heavenly Sword Palace from advancing any further no matter what.
The only option they had left was to fight to the death!
*Shua shua shua…*
One figure after another flew over and stood beside Yang Kai, as if they sensed his determination. Iron Blood, Bustling World, Martial Beast, Serene Soul, Flower Shadow, and Ice Feather Great Emperors all arrived together without a word.
Immediately after, Yue He, Mo Mei, Mao Zhe, Geng Qing, Zhou Ya, Hua Yong, Shu Mu Dan, Hui Gu, Qing Kui, Su Ying Xue, Fang Yue, and Xiang Ying also appeared in a flash.
Twenty Sixth-Order Masters stood in a line in the void, blocking the path between Heavenly Sword Palace and the Star Boundary like an impregnable wall.
Behind these Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters stood dozens of Fifth-Order Masters!
The next moment, streaks of light shot over as more than 1,000 Open Heaven Realm Masters who were below the Fifth Order flew over to help.
As the army assembled, their momentum soared!
“This scene seems familiar!” Iron Blood Great Emperor smiled.
Martial Beast Great Emperor Mo Huang clenched his fists as a series of popping sounds rang out, “Reminds me of the Great War.”
When they had fought against Great Demon God in the past, the Great Emperors had joined forces to fight the enemy. This was the first time that the strongest Masters of the Star Boundary had all gathered together, and fortunately, they achieved their goal. Although the ones attacking today were Heavenly Sword Union and Zuo Quan Hui, the situation was quite similar.
In the past, they had joined forces to kill Great Demon God, and today, they had joined forces to destroy the Heavenly Sword Palace and kill Zua Quan Hui!
The situation of facing a strong enemy with weaker forces had stirred up the pride and sentiments in their hearts!
“Yang Boy, don’t die this time!” Bustling World Great Emperor turned his head and warned Yang Kai.
Yang Kai had ‘died’ during the battle against Great Demon God. Fortunately, by refining the Immortal Tree, he was able to reconstruct his body and return to life, allowing him to continue battling Great Demon God.
Yang Kai grinned, “Don’t worry, I won’t die!”
Then, he shouted, “Kill!”
Using his Dragon Transformation Secret Technique, Yang Kai’s figure reached the height of several thousand metres once more. A Great Sun appeared on the tip of the enormous Azure Dragon Spear as he thrust it towards the Heavenly Sword Palace.
At the same time, all the Void Land Open Heaven Realm Masters used their respective Divine Abilities and artifacts to launch attacks against the Heavenly Sword Palace.
After nearly a month of fierce fighting, although a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master like Zuo Quan Hui had personally defended it, the Heavenly Sword Palace had still suffered some damage. Be that as it may, this artifact’s defensive capabilities were quite impressive and it was still holding up relatively well.
With a dazzling flash, the Heavenly Sword Palace launched another wave of attacks to intercept the incoming barrage.
Countless Divine Abilities collided in the void and canceled each other out as Void Cracks appeared before quickly closing one after another.
Most of the attacks were blocked, but a small number of them still made it through and struck the Heavenly Sword Palace, causing layers of protective barriers to shatter and disappear.
But before Void Land could launch a second wave of attacks, the Heavenly Sword Palace burst with another blinding flash as thousands of sword lights shone. The next moment, another barrage of attacks headed straight towards Void Land’s cultivators like a storm, drowning everyone in its path.
Yang Kai immediately stood at the forefront. With a flash of thought, a giant towering tree appeared behind him, covering the void as its branches drooped down to form a protective shield, blocking the countless sword beams.
Ripples appeared on the protective shield one after another as the Towering Evergreen Divine Manifestation became much dimmer.
The Towering Evergreen was powered by his Wood Element Power, condensed from the Immortal Tree, so not only could this Divine Ability heal injuries, it also had an extremely sturdy defensive ability.
However, the Towering Evergreen was not all-powerful and was unable to shield all the Open Heaven Realm Masters from Void Land. Although it was able to block most of the attacks, there were still some that managed to slip through.
Even though the many Open Heaven Realm Masters from Void Land had been prepared for this counterattack, every single sword light from the Heavenly Sword Palace was comparable to an attack launched by a Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master.
Blood splashed as dozens died on the spot the next moment.
With a deafening crash, Yang Kai’s spear smashed into the Heavenly Sword Palace, causing its advance to slow as it shook violently.
*Hong hong hong…*
Yang Kai kept smashing his spear out again and again, releasing a massive amount of violent energy. The enormous Heavenly Sword Palace was actually stopped in place. Furthermore, under the continuous barrage of attacks, the aura of several Small Universes collapsing could be felt coming from inside the palace.
But before Yang Kai could rejoice, a dazzling sword light slashed towards him. Zuo Quan Hui had personally made a move.
The might of a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm was like a mountain pressing down on them, making it difficult for everyone to breathe and sending their vitality tumbling.
When this sword light struck the protective barrier of the Towering Evergreen Divine Manifestation, it became even dimmer.
After another sword attack from Zuo Quan Hui, the Towering Evergreen was instantly destroyed, turning into specks of light that dissipated into the void. Yang Kai’s heart shook and his Small Universe became agitated, causing him to cough up a mouthful of blood.
Just like Yang Kai’s continuous attacks, Zuo Quan Hui didn’t stop at all, swinging his sword again and again.
At this moment, Yang Kai’s ears were ringing and his head was spinning. He shook his head to regain his bearing but still staggered back, unable to defend himself. However, after his Small Universe was shaken, he felt a strange connection with the Star Boundary for some reason.
At this critical moment of life and death, the Great Emperors joined forces and stood in front of Yang Kai. Each of them used their own Divine Abilities to resist the oncoming sword lights.
With a dazzling flash, the Great Emperors were forced back. All of them were vomiting blood and bleeding from their seven orifices.
Even with the combined strength of all the Great Emperors present, they were unable to resist Zuo Quan Hui’s assault and were instantly injured. But the silver lining was that the sword light shooting at Yang Kai was intercepted.
“Overconfident brat!” Inside Heavenly Sword Palace, Zuo Quan Hui sneered as another sword light slashed out.
Yang Kai vigorously shook his head before he finally stabilized himself. He then promptly raised his spear to meet the oncoming attack. At the same time, the injured Great Emperors also gathered their strength and joined forces to resist.
Yue He and Mo Mei also rushed over at that moment.
With everyone’s strength combined, they were finally able to barely resist Zuo Quan Hui’s sword strike.
However, the situation had grown worse.
The Heavenly Sword Palace, which had finally been stopped by Yang Kai, had once again started moving forward. Even if the Void Land Masters refused to back down as they made their last stand, they were still unable to stop the enemy from closing in.
10 million kilometres, 9 million, 8 million…
A long road paved with blood was floating in the void. Mangled and mutilated corpses of Open Heaven Realm Masters were scattered all over. Every time the Heavenly Sword Palace’s Arrays erupted, a few cultivators from Void Land would lose their lives.
Although the Heavenly Sword Palace was also on the verge of collapsing under the relentless bombardment of Void Land’s Open Heaven Realm Masters, it was still a hair’s breadth away from being completely destroyed.
Had there not been so many Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters on Void Land’s side, the outcome of this battle would have already been decided.
Be that as it may, everyone from Void Land was on their last leg.
Yang Kai was already fighting like he had lost his mind. He had simply stopped caring about saving his strength as he continued to pour his World Force into every attack. He had already used Golden Crow Casts the Sun several times, and each time he did he chipped away at the Heavenly Sword Palace, but he was still unable to break it.
His Small Universe had long been shaken to the point that it was already unstable. Yang Kai didn’t have time to investigate right now, but he knew that his Small Universe would definitely crash if he did not stop.
But the more turbulent his Small Universe became, the clearer Yang Kai could feel the strange connection between himself and the Star Boundary become.
He was Void Great Emperor, recognized by the Star Boundary’s Will, so it was not surprising for him to have such a connection. Yang Kai had used this very connection to instantly return to the Star Boundary a month ago.
At first, Yang Kai had not paid much attention to it, but as the battle proceeded and he displayed his stalwart determination to protect the Star Boundary, the connection grew stronger and stronger.
The connection became so strong that it was difficult for Yang Kai to ignore now. He didn’t know why, but for some reason, he even felt a faint calling, or expression of intent was about to surface from the mist.
“So… Zhu Jiu Yin isn’t here!” Zuo Quan Hui’s calm voice suddenly came from Heavenly Sword Palace.
Zuo Quan Hui was always holed up inside the Heavenly Sword Palace when he was in Void Territory, and did not dare to show his face. Even though the Heavenly Sword Palace was situated right outside the Territory Gate, he was afraid that Zhu Jiu Yin would suddenly appear and catch him off guard if he went outside.
Even when he had come to this backwater Great Territory, he had always been on guard against hidden murderous intent even though he was tempted by the World Tree to take a risk.
But even when the battle had reached this point, he hadn’t sensed Zhu Jiu Yin’s aura at all. Seeing that the people from Void Land could no longer resist his advance, he finally understood that his fears were needless. The one person he was afraid of was not even here in the first place.
If that wasn’t the case, why would Zhu Jiu Yin have been hiding all the while? Why hadn’t she taken action yet? She was not going to take action after everyone from Void Land died, right?
Realizing this, Zuo Quan Hui couldn’t help but become angry out of shame. He felt that his cautious actions had made him look like a coward.
However, he was most pleasantly surprised and couldn’t help but burst into laughter, “Without Zhu Jiu Yin, how can you ants resist this Monarch? This Monarch will occupy the Star Boundary and then destroy all you weaklings!”
Although he had confirmed that Zhu Jiu Yin was not here, he still had no intention of showing his face. He simply continued to activate the power of the Heavenly Sword Palace’s Grand Array, throwing Void Land’s Masters into panic.
Just as Yang Kai feared, once Zuo Quan Hui reached the Star Boundary, he would have everything under his control. Void Land’s Open Heaven Realm Masters would definitely not dare to start a war in the Star Boundary, so at that time, everyone would be at his mercy. The only option was to end things in the void.
Suddenly, the Heavenly Sword Palace shot straight towards the Star Boundary, as Zuo Quan Hui no longer had any scruples.
Over 1,000 Open Heaven Realm Masters of Void Land desperately tried to resist, but were still forced back!
Suddenly, a glimmer of light cut through the fog as the feeling that Yang Kai had been unable to understand for so long finally became clear like the rising sun. Yang Kai quickly dispelled any doubts he had and cleared his mind before understanding the epiphany.
[So that was how it is!]
[So that was how it is! I have actually neglected my greatest reliance, my greatest foundation!]
“The World lives!” Yang Kai lowered his head and mumbled to himself in a low voice. The next moment, he shouted as his long hair fell over his forehead, “You want the Star Boundary, but have you asked the Star Boundary’s Will?”
Sitting in the main hall of the Heavenly Sword Palace, Zuo Quan Hui scoffed, “When this Monarch occupies that place, this Monarch will become its Will!”
Yang Kai slowly shook his head, “Then I’m afraid I’ll have to disappoint you!”
Zuo Quan Hui’s face sank as he suddenly had a bad feeling. It was inexplicable, as if something terrible was about to happen.
Yang Kai grabbed his spear with one hand and suddenly formed a series of hand seals with the other, muttering in a low voice, “Heavens and Earth, lend me your strength!”
*Weng…*
The void trembled at that moment as everything came to a halt.
In the next moment, the World Tree, which had reached the height of 100,000 metres, began to sway violently. Its giant canopy rustled as a beam of green light shot out from the Star Boundary and struck Yang Kai.
Yang Kai remained still, but his aura, which had become incredibly weak due to over-exhaustion, started rapidly rising, soaring upwards seemingly without limit! His turbulent Small Universe calmed, reaching a state of tranquility that he had never felt before. Furthermore, his Small Universe’s foundation was also rapidly strengthening.
A terrifying pressure erupted from Yang Kai, spreading out in all directions, causing space itself to tremble.
The Open Heaven Realm Masters of Heavenly Sword Union inside the Heavenly Sword Palace were dumbstruck at the sight of this. In the void, 1,000 Open Heaven Realm Masters of Void Land also wore looks of amazement.
Yang Kai’s aura rapidly reached a peak, one far higher than his original. Although he had yet to reach the Seventh Order, he was just a hair’s breadth away from it now.
The corner of Zuo Quan Hui’s eyes twitched as he stared at this scene in disbelief.
“Borrowing the World’s Strength, so that’s how it is!” Zhan Wu Hen’s eyes flickered with realization. The Great Emperors also quickly understood what just happened.
Yang Kai was borrowing the power of the Star Boundary! Any Great Emperor who was recognized by the Will of his Universe World could borrow its strength, but this time, Yang Kai was borrowing power far beyond their imagination!
In general, there was a vast difference between the Emperor Realm and the Open Heaven Realm. Any Open Heaven Realm Master, even of the lowest Order, could easily kill an Emperor Realm cultivator.
But at certain times, in certain special circumstances, an Emperor Realm cultivator could display the strength comparable to a Low-Rank Open Heaven Realm Master!
Just like how the Great Emperors had fought against Great Demon God in the past!
Great Demon God definitely had the strength of the Open Heaven Realm at that time, but in the end, he was killed by the combined forces of the Star Boundary’s Great Emperors. The fundamental reason for this was that the Great Emperors had borrowed the World Strength of the Star Boundary to display enough power to kill Great Demon God.
Back then, when the Star Boundary had been nearly destroyed and the people had fallen into misery, the Great Emperors still had the strength to fight against Great Demon God by taking advantage of the Star Boundary’s remaining strength. Now that the Star Boundary had received the World Tree’s nourishment, and its foundation had become many times stronger, the World Strength Yang Kai could borrow from it was naturally far greater than before.
At this moment, it was as if he had the support of the entire Star Boundary’s World Force.
Zuo Quan Hui was a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master with rich experience, so it wasn’t that he didn’t know about the secrets of Universe Worlds and Great Emperors, but under normal circumstances, how much strength could a Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master like Yang Kai borrow from a mere Universe World?
It was a little better than nothing, that’s all!
However, the situation in the Star Boundary was completely different from that of ordinary Universe Worlds. Its foundation was extremely rich due to the World Tree’s feedback. Furthermore, the World Tree had also absorbed the World Force of all the Open Heaven Realm Masters from both sides who had lost their lives in this battle, allowing its heritage to become even stronger.
The World was alive. When Yang Kai was giving his all to defend the Star Boundary, even willing to put his life on the line to protect it from danger, the Star Boundary itself had sensed it. The feeling lingering in Yang Kai’s heart was a sign of acknowledgement from the Star Boundary Will.
Yang Kai understood a bit too late, but he still managed to deduce it in time.
“Zuo Quan Hui, you made your biggest mistake by making things difficult for my Star Boundary in this Great Territory!” Yang Kai’s World Force surged as he felt an indescribable power coursing through his body. Borrowing the power of the Star Boundary, not only had he recovered, but his strength was also only a step away from the Seventh Order.
“You’re still only a Sixth-Order ant, how dare you boast so shamelessly!? When you have broken through to the Seventh Order, then you can act presumptuously before this Monarch!” Zuo Quan Hui was extremely angry. As he finished speaking, sword waves once again shot out from the Heavenly Sword Palace. Furthermore, he had also launched a Divine Ability personally at Yang Kai.
Yang Kai promptly raised his spear to block the incoming assault. Although he was forced back tens of thousands of kilometres again, he was no longer incapable of resisting.
The gap between him and Zuo Quan Hui had been greatly reduced.
This scene was witnessed by everyone present. Void Land’s morale immediately soared as they all took action to block the Heavenly Sword Palace’s attack.
The Great Emperors glanced at each other but didn’t say anything. Nonetheless, all of them could tell what the other was thinking.
“Yang Boy, I’ll leave this place to you!” Iron Blood Great Emperor suddenly shouted.
Yang Kai turned his head in surprise and saw Iron Blood Great Emperor’s figure instantly disappear from his spot. When he looked back at the others, he saw that Bustling World, Martial Beast, Serene Soul, Flower Shadow, Ice Feather, and the other Great Emperors were also nodding at him expectantly.
Yang Kai instantly understood and shouted, “Everyone, don’t worry, I’ll definitely kill this old dog at our doorstep!”
The next moment, several figures suddenly appeared atop the World Tree’s crown in the Star Boundary. They were none other than the Great Emperors who had disappeared from the battlefield.
They had never cultivated the Dao of Space, so under normal circumstances, it would be impossible for them to travel millions of kilometres in an instant, but the Star Boundary was their homeland, and since Yang Kai was able to return from the Territory Gate with the help of the Star Boundary, it was naturally possible for them to do something similar. Traversing a few million kilometres was as easy as stepping through their front door for them.
They were old friends who had known each other for over 10,000 years, so with just a glance at each other, all of them smiled and sat down cross-legged, opened their Small Universes, and poured their World Force into the Star Boundary.
The six Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters’ assistance caused the entire Star Boundary to tremble slightly, as if it was welcoming their return.
In the void, Yang Kai’s aura, which was slowly stabilizing, suddenly shot up again. Naturally, this was due to the support of the Great Emperors, carrying with it the hope of countless living beings in the Star Boundary.
Nonetheless, Yang Kai was still unable to break through the shackles of the Sixth Order. Although he was now just half a step away from the Seventh Order, there was still a thin barrier blocking his path. If he could not break through this barrier, he would not be able to glimpse the broad horizons of the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm.
The Sixth-Order was in the Mid-Rank, while the Seventh-Order was the beginning of the High-Rank. The gap between them was simply too great.
[Just a little more…]
Just as Yang Kai thought he had reached his limit, another wave of energy suddenly surged through his body. This wave of energy came at just the right moment, shattering the already cracking shackles.
*Hong…*
An invisible shockwave burst out from Yang Kai as the prestige of a High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Master filled the void!
Atop the World Tree, two figures slowly descended. One of them wiped the cold sweat from his forehead as he muttered, “Luckily, we were not too late!”
The other person stated, “What a pity, I thought that after advancing to the Sixth Order, I would be able to enjoy a good fight with old friends, but I didn’t expect I wouldn’t have such an opportunity!”
Iron Blood Great Emperor opened his eyes and gently smiled, “The two of you aren’t good at fighting anyway, so it’s best if you don’t cause trouble.”
Wondrous Pill and Heavens Revelations looked at each other and had no choice but to agree, “Fair enough!”
The two of them had been cultivating in Void Land all this time, attempting to break through to the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm. Just when they somehow broke through and were preparing to head to the Territory Gate to assist, Hei He happened to bring Lan Xun to Void Land.
When the two of them learned of the situation, they anxiously rushed to the Star Boundary, but they were still a step behind Heavenly Sword Union.
By the time the two of them finally returned to the Star Boundary’s Great Territory, Heavenly Sword Union and Void Land had already fought for a long time. When they finally caught up with the Heavenly Sword Palace and arrived at the edge of the battlefield, they happened to see Yang Kai borrowing the Star Boundary’s World Force and their old friends returning to the Star Boundary to support him.
Seeing that Yang Kai was still only at the peak of the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm, just half a step away from breaking through to the Seventh-Order, the two of them didn’t hesitate to return to the Star Boundary.
“I wonder if Yang Boy has reached the Seventh Order yet,” Wondrous Pill Great Emperor looked up into the void and muttered.
“Old Dog, next year today will be the anniversary of your death!” In the void, Yang Kai was in high spirits. The World Force around him surged as he thrust out his spear, transforming it into a barrage of spear shadows that filled the sky and rained down towards Heavenly Sword Palace.
How could he lose this battle, carrying the hopes and expectations of all the Great Emperors and countless living beings in the Star Boundary on his shoulders?
Dazzling lights flashed across the Heavenly Sword Palace as its defensive Arrays shattered and collapsed. Multiple Small Universes collapsed one after another at the same time.
Although Zuo Quan Hui was desperately repairing the Arrays, he could not catch up with the storm of attacks.
His greatest reliance was that he was an Order higher than Yang Kai’s cultivation, but now he had even lost that advantage, which had immediately pushed him into a corner.
Attacks rained down at the Heavenly Sword Palace from every direction.
Heavenly Sword Union disciples tried their best to resist, but it was impossible for them to keep up.
In less than a dozen breaths of time, the Heavenly Sword Palace suddenly cracked with a blinding flash as an inexplicable and fearsome aura surged from it.
“Everyone, dodge!” Yang Kai promptly realized that something was not right and shouted aloud, immediately using his Space Principles to wrap up those around him and quickly retreating.
Not only were Void Land’s cultivators retreating, but countless figures fled from the Heavenly Sword Palace as well.
In the blink of an eye, a terrifying shockwave suddenly swept out, as if the sun in the sky had exploded. Some of the slower Heavenly Sword Union cultivators didn’t even have time to make a sound before they were enveloped by this blinding flash and instantly lost their lives.
The fallout from this explosion crashed into everyone, causing them to feel as if they were standing in the middle of a vast ocean, unable to even stand firm. Everyone promptly used their defensive Divine Abilities and artifacts to protect themselves as stray bolts of energy and rubble flew out randomly.
Yang Kai stabilized his footing and stared straight ahead.
The Heavenly Sword Palace had exploded! After defending for over a month, crossing trillions of kilometres, they had finally managed to crack this hard nut.
Void Land’s cultivators had evacuated in time, so apart from some minor injuries suffered by a few Low-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters, no one had lost their life.
On the other hand, Heavenly Sword Union’s Open Heaven Realm Masters had suffered heavy casualties.
Heavenly Sword Union had spent unimaginable resources and effort to build the Heavenly Sword Palace, so the instant it was destroyed, the resulting explosion was not inferior to a full-powered attack launched by a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master.
When the dust settled, only about 400 Open Heaven Realm Masters remained on Heavenly Sword Union’s side, and all of them were in a sorry state.
A giant black hole had appeared where the Heavenly Sword Palace had exploded. It was surrounded by thousands of cracks that extended to the depths of the void.
Space had shattered, making it look like the end of the world!
Zuo Quan Hui stood somewhere in the void, surrounded by a group of Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters. His face was twitching, as if he had yet to recover from the series of events just now.
The Heavenly Sword Palace occupied an absolute advantage. Just a few million more kilometers and it would have reached the Star Boundary. At that time, Void Land would have been at his mercy.
But much to his dismay, Yang Kai had borrowed the power of Heaven and Earth to instantly break through from the Sixth Order to the Seventh Order, destroying the Heavenly Sword Palace, shattering his greatest reliance, and dragging him down into the dirt.
Yang Kai raised his spear and sneered, “Old dog, you’re finally willing to come out?”
Zuo Quan Hui narrowed his eyes as he looked at Yang Kai. When their gazes met, it seemed as if sparks were flickering.
“Kill!” Yang Kai shouted as his enormous Dragon Form wrapped in a supreme Dragon Pressure appeared before the Heavenly Sword Union Masters in a single move. The next moment, Yang Kai swept his massive Azure Dragon Spear that seemed to hold up the sky as a rich World Force burst out, wantonly releasing the power of the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm!
Even Zuo Quan Hui did not dare to casually take such an attack.
Although Yang Kai had acquired the strength of the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm, he did not obtain it by cultivating himself, but because he had borrowed the World Force from the Star Boundary, an external aid.
Even so, when Yang Kai attacked with the Azure Dragon Spear using his several thousand metres tall Half Dragon Form, Zuo Quan Hui had no choice but to cherish his own life. Facing this attack, he used a Divine Ability to block as a feint before pulling back.
Seeing this, the ten Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters around him quickly dispersed.
Heavenly Sword Union’s formation collapsed in the wake of this attack.
Behind Yang Kai, a tide of Open Heaven Realm Masters swarmed towards him. Having been under extreme pressure for so long, it was now their turn to vent, which they did without holding back in the slightest. Everyone used their respective Divine Abilities and artifacts to their heart’s content to attack the enemy.
The few hundred Open Heaven Realm Masters on Heavenly Sword Union’s side were nearly frightened to death!
Heavenly Sword Union’s cultivators had suffered heavy casualties thanks to the Heavenly Sword Palace’s explosion. Now, there were less than 400 of them left. On the other hand, Void Land still had over 1,000 Open Heaven Realm Masters on their side.
With almost three times the difference in number, there was no need for any kind of battle formation, just charging forward was enough to crush the enemy.
Not to mention, Void Land had a huge advantage when it came to the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters.
Including Yang Kai, Void Land had a total of 22 Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters. With the eight Great Emperors having returned to the Star Boundary, 14 still remained! Even if Yang Kai wasn’t included, there were still 13 on their side.
On the other hand, Heavenly Sword Union only had 10. So, Void Land had a three-person advantage!
Back then, during a meeting with Zuo Quan Hui in the Heavenly Sword Palace, Pei Wen Xuan had proposed to send a message to Yin Xin Zhao, inviting him to come and help. He had said that as long as they had one more Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master on their side, they could completely turn around the situation. With one more, they would be able to gain an advantage of two against one in a battle, which would become the key to victory.
If just one more Sixth-Order Master could be the difference between victory and stalemate, what more need be said if one side had three more?
Twenty Sixth-Order Masters from both sides were engaged in a fierce battle, and for the moment, they were evenly matched. Meanwhile, the three Mountain Lords of Profound Yang Mountain, Mao Zhe, Geng Qing, and Zhou Ya quietly blended into the 1,000-plus Open Heaven Realm Masters from Void Land’s side and rushed into Heavenly Sword Union’s army, leaving bloody carnage in their wake.
With three Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters joining forces, how could Heavenly Sword Union’s army, who were at most Fifth-Order Masters, be a match for them?
In less than the time it took for an incense stick to burn, the number of Heavenly Sword Union cultivators had been reduced by half, and the remaining people were now surrounded by Void Land’s forces. There was no way for them to escape and it was only a matter of time before they were defeated and killed.
After settling the overall situation, Mao Zhe and the others rushed back to the battlefield of the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters.
Huang Quan suddenly had his hair stand on end, as if he had fallen into an icehouse. A chill ran up from the tip of his toes to the crown of his head.
At that moment, Huang Quan was fighting none other than his old nemesis, Hui Gu! Both were from Yin-Yang Cave Heaven’s Prison Star and had developed a loose friendship during their hundreds of years of imprisonment.
However, Hui Gu had infiltrated the Prison League under Yang Kai’s orders after being subdued by the latter, only to be exposed in the end. As a result, Huang Quan killed Hui Gu’s only loyal servant, Bai Mo right in front of him.
That day, Hui Gu swore that one day he would kill Huang Quan and avenge Bai Mo.
By some coincidence, when Hui Gu returned to Void Land with Yang Kai, Huang Quan had fallen in with Zuo Quan Hui. Both sides had fought several times in Void Territory, but neither of them had been able to gain the upper hand. In fact, Hui Gu’s strength was actually slightly inferior.
After all, Huang Quan was the League Master while Hui Gu was just one of its Protectors in the Prison League. There was a difference between their status and strength as well.
After exchanging several blows several times over the past year, both of them knew each other’s techniques like the back of their hands. Huang Quan naturally wouldn’t be afraid if he was only facing Hui Gu; however, the three Mountain Lords of the Profound Yang Mountain were now rushing over!
Huang Quan was extremely unlucky. Mao Zhe and the others didn’t intentionally target him, rather they were just providing support to the closest battlefield.
Huang Quan and Hui Gu just happened to be on that battlefield!
Seeing these three rushing towards him, Huang Quan didn’t hesitate to escape as he knew that he couldn’t remain. Not to mention a Sixth-Order Master like him, even someone in the Seventh-Order like Zuo Quan Hui might not be able to escape this debacle. After Yang Kai had borrowed the Star Boundary’s World Force, strengthening himself to the point where he reached the Seventh Order, he had destroyed the Heavenly Sword Palace and stopped Heavenly Sword Union’s momentum. If Huang Quan did not flee now, when would he?
As for whether Zuo Quan Hui would settle the score with him later or not… he could worry about it after he had escaped.
However, Hui Gu kept desperately hounding him, which was very annoying.
A fierce gleam flashed across Huang Quan’s eyes as he ignored Hui Gu’s incoming palm strike and ruthlessly launched a Divine Ability towards him, seemingly wanting to trade a life for a life.
In truth, Huang Quan had no intention to fight to the death with Hui Gu. It wasn’t easy for him to escape from the Prison Star and regain his freedom, so he valued his life more than anything. With his Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm cultivation and a long life ahead of him, he still had many good days to look forward to.
He was simply doing this to force Hui Gu to stop and back off so he could escape.
But much to his dismay, when faced with this Divine Ability, Hui Gu didn’t even try to dodge or block. His eyes burned with unquenchable hatred as he appeared completely ready to sacrifice his life if it meant killing his enemy.
Huang Quan turned pale in shock as he cursed, “Madman!”
In a panic, he hastily withdrew some of his strength to defend himself.
The next instant, both of them shook and threw up a mouthful of blood each, their auras weakening as their World Force unstably fluctuated.
Mao Zhe, Geng Qing, and Zhou Ya arrived just in the nick of time!
The three of them formed a triangle and rushed towards Huang Quan. Their World Force surged as they fired their Divine Abilities before even reaching him.
[My destined time has come!] Huang Quan’s face turned ashen.
Even if he was at his peak, he would most likely die if he was facing these three, not to mention the fact that he had been forced into a dead end by Hui Gu.
A blinding flash of light appeared before Huang Quan’s body flew out like a rag sack as it was struck by three Divine Abilities. In the blink of an eye, he was left in a sorry state; his hair was a mess and he was covered in blood.
Suddenly, an angry and gnashing face appeared right in front of him like a ghost, almost touching his nose. Its eyes were burning with flames of hatred and blood was flowing from its seven orifices, making it look like a real devil.
Huang Quan’s heart almost burst in fright as he felt a sharp pain in his neck!
Hui Gu transformed into a streak of light as he brushed past Huang Quan.
About 1,000 metres behind Huang Quan, Hui Gu looked up into the void and smiled, “Rest in peace, Bai Mo, I’ve avenged you!”
He raised his hand, holding a bloody head in it as 1,000 metres behind him stood the headless corpse of Yellow Spring Heavenly Monarch.
Huang Quan hadn’t died yet, as the vitality of a Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master was extremely tenacious. He would not immediately die even if his head was twisted off, but he obviously knew what kind of situation he was in right now. Blinking his eyes, he also looked up into the sky and heaved a sigh, “Haa, why…”
Back when he left the Prison Star, if he hadn’t sought refuge with Zuo Quan Hui, he would have been living a happy life right now!
He didn’t hold a grudge against Hui Gu for killing him. From the day he started cultivating, he knew that when one walked the Martial Dao, even if he did not kill others, he would be killed by them one day! The Martial Dao was long, and there was no one whose hands weren’t dyed in blood. How many people were there who did not take life and death lightly?
Such a day was bound to come, sooner or later! Be that as it may, he named himself Huang Quan, meaning Yellow Spring, he might receive some kind of preferential treatment in the underworld but King Yama was not someone to be trifled with.
He slowly closed his eyes as his vitality rapidly dissipated.
1,000 metres away, the Small Universe of a Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master collapsed, releasing a massive amount of World Force that transformed into a violent wave of energy which was visible to the naked eye. The violent energy was immediately pulled in by the World Tree that was still a few million kilometres away.
Hui Gu’s hand trembled and he shattered the head in his hand before keeling over and coughing, spitting out pieces of his internal organs.
Zhou Ya flashed over, “Are you alright?”
Hui Gu shook his head, “I’ll survive!”
Although he had taken Huang Quan’s Divine Ability head-on and was seriously injured, he would live. Furthermore, a weight had been lifted off his heart after he had killed Huang Quan, allowing his mind to become much clearer.
“Retreat and heal yourself first!” Zhou Ya urged before following Mao Zhe and Geng Qing to the next battlefield.
Although many of the Sixth-Order Masters were fighting their own life-or-death battles, Huang Quan’s fall could not escape their senses. The commotion caused by the collapse of a Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master’s Small Universe and subsequent dissipation of his World Force was not small; even the dullest of people could sense it.
A Sixth-Order Master on their side had died in such a short period of time, naturally causing great fear among the remaining Heavenly Sword Union Masters.
Some of the smart ones immediately began to flee, but how could Void Land allow them to escape? Naturally, they tried their best to stop and suppress them, so the enemy’s efforts yielded little result.
Under normal circumstances, when two Masters with the same cultivation fought, if one of them insisted on escaping, the other would have no way to stop him. Let alone one, even if two of the same cultivation tried to stop someone together, they still might not be able to.
This was why the higher one’s cultivation was, the easier it was to determine victory or defeat, but the harder it was to determine life or death.
If they couldn’t beat the enemy, they still could run, unless one cultivated the Dao of Space like Yang Kai and had unmatched speed, or they had arranged a Heaven Sealing Earth Locking Array in advance, making escape impossible!
Yang Kai was currently locked in a fierce battle with Zuo Quan Hui. Even though he had obtained the strength of a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master by borrowing World Force from the Star Boundary, he was unable to divert his attention.
Fortunately, there happened to be an Array Master on Void Land’s side!
Somewhere in the void, when Luan Bai Feng saw Heavenly Sword Union’s Sixth-Order Masters wanting to flee, she immediately sent a transmission to Mao Zhe.
The three Mountain Lords of the Profound Yang Mountain had originally planned to assist Yue He to capture that Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm female cultivator named Zi Yan, but after receiving Luan Bai Feng’s transmission, they immediately changed directions and flew towards her.
A moment later, Luan Bai Feng withdrew from the battlefield and the three Mountain Lords joined forces to fight her original opponent, Heavenly Sword Union’s Seven Mysteries Heavenly Monarch, Qi Xuan!
Qi Xuan was originally an older generation Sixth-Order Master of Heavenly Sword Union. He spent most of his time in secluded cultivation in order to break through to the Seventh-Order. Even most of Heavenly Sword Union’s disciples didn’t know that they had an Old Ancestor like him. Only a few of the higher-ups knew of his existence.
Besides Seven Mysteries Heavenly Monarch, Heavenly Sword Union also had another Sixth-Order Red Sun Heavenly Monarch, Dan Yang.
Zuo Quan Hui had forcefully taken over Heavenly Sword Union with his Seventh-Order cultivation, so he naturally wouldn’t allow these two to freely do as they wished. Qi Xuan and Dan Yang had no choice but to come out of seclusion.
Originally, although Qi Xuan was shocked by Luan Bai Feng’s unpredictable methods when he fought her, he was still able to gain a slight advantage.
He even had the room to ask Luan Bai Feng why she had betrayed Zuo Quan Hui and joined Void Land instead.
When Luan Bai Feng left and Mao Zhe, Geng Qing, and Zhou Ya took her place though, Qi Xuan couldn’t help complaining bitterly. One against three, and with all of them being Sixth-Order Masters, forget about fighting, it would be difficult to even escape. From the start, Mao Zhe’s cultivation was about the same as his at the peak of the Sixth-Order. As for Geng Qing and Zhou Ya, although they were slightly weaker, they weren’t too far off.
[I guess things are not looking good for us today, unless Zuo Quan Hui manages to take down Yang Kai!] Qi Xuan was barely able to deal with the three Mountain Lords of the Profound Yang Mountain and was forced to only defend under their combined attacks while secretly praying for a miracle.
On the other side, after Luan Bai Feng broke away from her opponent, her figure shuttled through the void, wandering the various battlefields as she sent out her Array Plates one after another, instantly activating the Arrays engraved on them.
She had quite a number of Array Plates in her possession and of various types, but because Masters on both sides were fighting, Luan Bai Feng had chosen to only use Trapping Arrays or Illusion Arrays; basically, all the Array Plates she had thrown out were non-lethal.
Although the Arrays activated from these Array Plates could not kill or injure the enemy, and might even disturb the judgment of her own allies, they could temporarily trap these Sixth-Order Masters in place and prevent them from escaping.
A moment later, eight Arrays took shape in the void. Although no figure could be seen inside these Arrays, the cultivators outside were able to clearly sense the shockwaves and fallout coming from inside. Obviously, the Masters of both sides trapped inside were fighting fiercely.
After having done all this, Luan Bai Feng took a break and turned her head to look at Yang Kai and Zuo Quan Hui, and saw the two of them exchanging blows, constantly releasing their Divine Abilities and Secret Techniques. Although Yang Kai was at a disadvantage, he was still able to hold on.
After seeing this, Luan Bai Feng could finally feel relieved. She then rushed into the Array in front of her to help her companion kill his opponent.
The Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were locked in a heated battle with their respective opponents, but the Heavenly Sword Union cultivators below the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm were getting slaughtered one-sidedly. The original 300 or so Open Heaven Realm Masters of Heavenly Sword Union had suffered great casualties under the hands of the three Mountain Lords of the Profound Yang Mountain. Now, less than half the original number remained.
On Void Land’s side, over 1,000 Open Heaven Realm Masters formed a huge encirclement, surrounding all of Heavenly Sword Union’s cultivators and steadily pushing inward. As the encirclement continued to shrink, the Heavenly Sword Union’s cultivators suffered more and more casualties.
Under the constant barrage of the Divine Abilities and Secret Techniques, the Heavenly Sword Union cultivators would explode into blood mists at a steady pace.
The huge gap in numbers made it impossible for Heavenly Sword Union to turn the tide!
No matter what the outcome of this battle ultimately was, Heavenly Sword Union, a peak second-class force that had enjoyed countless years of glory, would cease to exist.
On another side of the void, Yang Kai and Zuo Quan Hui were locked in a heated confrontation. It was a battle between High-Rank Open Heaven Masters. The void would shatter every time they clashed and their battlefield spanned millions of kilometres. Their World Force kept constantly clashing, causing the space to crack like a broken mirror.
This was especially true for the place where the Heavenly Sword Palace had exploded. A black hole had appeared there after the explosion. This black hole should have slowly closed under the self-repairing properties of the World Principles if it was not subjected to any external forces; however, under the influence of the intense battle between the two, not only did this black hole not show any signs of closing, it even grew larger instead.
A chaotic aura of nihility was coming from inside the black hole.
This wasn’t the first time Yang Kai had fought Zuo Quan Hui. The last time they had fought was in Void Territory, but that time, he had still been beaten miserably by Zuo Quan Hui even with the support of the Three Mountain Lords. Yang Kai would have been killed on the spot if it weren’t for the fact that his strength far exceeded an ordinary Sixth-Order Master’s. Although he had managed to force Zuo Quan Hui back in the end, he had suffered significant damage and had even exposed his Sun and Moon Divine Wheel.
When they fought again after several years, the disparity between the first and this time was obvious.
A High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Master was indeed on a completely different level from a Mid-Rank one! Even if he had reached the High-Rank by borrowing World Force, Yang Kai was still able to exert the might of a High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Master nonetheless.
On the surface, Yang Kai was still at a disadvantage; after all, Zuo Quan Hui was a veteran Seventh-Order Master, so he had better command of his strength and skills. However, Yang Kai was confident that it was next to impossible for Zuo Quan Hui to kill him with his current strength!
Moreover… he could feel his strength growing with every passing breath!
His current strength came from the Star Boundary’s World Force; thus, his strength was directly related to the foundation of the Star Boundary.
Previously, Yang Kai gained the might of the Seventh-Order and instantly destroyed the Heavenly Sword Palace with the help of the various Great Emperors who had entered the Star Boundary, causing countless Heavenly Sword Union cultivators to die.
It had to be known that the World Force released by every Open Heaven Realm Master who died would fuel the World Tree’s growth, which in turn would strengthen the Star Boundary’s foundation.
The more Heavenly Sword Union Open Heaven Realm Masters that died, the more energy the World Tree could feed back to the Star Boundary, thereby further strengthening its foundation.
This was the main reason why Yang Kai became more confident as he fought. With the Star Boundary as his backer, he had an endless supply of energy, unless the Star Boundary exploded and collapsed.
Obviously, this had not gone unnoticed by Zuo Quan Hui. In the beginning, Yang Kai was obviously much weaker than him, but as time passed, Yang Kai became stronger, soon almost equaling him in strength.
The World Force colliding with each other’s Divine Abilities and Secret Techniques was the best indication of this change.
Zuo Quan Hui’s confidence slowly sank to the bottom!
He thought that since Zhu Jiu Yin wasn’t here, victory was in his grasp, but it never crossed his mind that something like this would happen.
Zuo Quan Hui could feel his Small Universe shake every time they clashed. Although it wasn’t a big deal, it meant that Yang Kai had the strength to threaten him.
The only thing Zuo Quan Hui could rejoice about right now was that Yang Kai had not reached this Realm through painstakingly cultivating himself, so his control wasn’t perfect.
It was akin to a child holding a huge blade that weighed several dozen kilograms. Although the blade was sharp and deadly, the child could not wield it properly.
However, he was having a really hard time dealing with Yang Kai’s Space Principles!
Zuo Quan Hui did not find them that troublesome when Yang Kai was a Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, but now that Yang Kai’s had reached the might equivalent to that of a Seventh-Order Master, he truly found the Dao of Space difficult to handle.
Yang Kai would appear and disappear without a trace, often appearing right at his most defenseless corner and then thrusting his spear out without a shred of mercy. These attacks were simply impossible to guard against!
Occasionally, he would be able to determine Yang Kai’s position in advance and launch a Divine Ability to attack him, but Yang Kai would simply disappear like a ghost. Yang Kai’s usage of Space Principles had almost reached perfection.
Zuo Quan Hui’s expression became solemn as Yang Kai’s World Force became stronger and stronger. And with the continuous increase in his strength, he couldn’t help but feel an urge to retreat pop up in his mind.
[I have no choice but to admit that I have grossly underestimated the Lord of Void Land. It’s just as he had said, it was a wrong choice to make enemies of him in this Great Territory.]
But if he wasn’t here, where could he fight with Yang Kai? He couldn’t fight in Void Territory, as that was even more disadvantageous for him with two Divine Spirits lurking in the shadows.
What’s more, Yang Kai had still not used his Sun and Moon Divine Wheel. It was a Divine Ability that had injured him before, so its power was immense.
[The battle is already as good as lost! It would be unwise to stay here any longer. It would be better to retreat for now and plan what to do next.]
Although Zuo Quan Hui had decided so, it was extremely difficult to escape from someone who was proficient in the Dao of Space. While the two of them fought, Yang Kai also exerted his Space Principles to turn the surrounding space viscous, making it feel as if they were trapped in a swamp.
Had it been any other Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, even if the opposite party’s cultivation was much higher than his, Zuo Quan Hui was confident he could escape, but facing Yang Kai, he really didn’t have that kind of confidence.
Suddenly, fluctuations of another Small Universe collapsing spread out. It was Seven Mysteries Heavenly Monarch from Heavenly Sword Union, who had perished under the siege of the Three Mountain Lords.
Zuo Quan Hui’s face became dark and gloomy.
The situation would only become more dire as his Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm subordinates fell one after another. And once the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters of Void Land were to join forces with Yang Kai, he would be doomed.
Not daring to hesitate any longer, Zuo Quan Hui turned his head towards the direction of the black hole. [Since things have come to this, I can only take the risk.]
Knowingly or unknowingly, his body began to move towards the black hole. Yang Kai followed him like a shadow as his Azure Dragon Spear thrust out, releasing World Force in bursts all over the void.
The shockwaves from the battle between the two caused the black hole to expand further as the chaotic energy became even denser.
“Zuo Quan Hui, you will die today!” As Yang Kai shouted, he felt his strength sharply rise. This increment was far bigger than before, allowing him to feel as if he was now on par with Zuo Quan Hui. Without a moment of hesitation, a Golden Crow’s cry reverberated as a Great Sun leapt out, lighting up the void.
Golden Crow Casts the Sun!
In that instant, Zuo Quan Hui’s figure seemed to freeze for a moment. Yang Kai’s eyes immediately lit up at the sight of this. He promptly thrust the spear with the Great Sun on its tip straight towards Zuo Quan Hui without a moment of pause.
Space shattered under this attack, and so did Zuo Quan Hui’s figure.
As the Great Sun exploded, Yang Kai vaguely felt as if he had broken something, but he couldn’t figure out what it was. And before he could think about it, a mighty sword wave shot towards him.
He promptly raised his spear to block the incoming attack. The next moment, a violent energy drowned Yang Kai, sending him flying 10,000 kilometers back.
Yang Kai’s vitality was in turmoil as his Small Universe trembled. Zuo Quan Hui’s all-out counterattack was truly terrifying. Yang Kai didn’t even see how Zuo Quan Hui had managed to avoid his first spear strike. It could only be said that a High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Master was truly beyond common sense.
After quickly stabilizing himself, Yang Kai looked up again before his pupils shrank.
Zuo Quan Hui’s figure stood straight as a sword in front of the giant black hole, and beside him were several other figures. They were Zi Yan, Yin Xin Zhao, and several other Sixth-Order Masters.
After repelling him, old dog Zuo Quan Hui still had the strength to spare to save his trusted subordinates.
At this moment, Zi Yan and the others were still in a state of shock. They had expended a great deal of their strength during their respective battles. Furthermore, they had been trapped by Luan Bai Feng’s Array Plates. If Zuo Quan Hui hadn’t broken the Arrays and rescued them, they would have died here, their remains scattered across the void.
Now that they were standing beside Zuo Quan Hui, they finally felt a sense of security.
When they looked around, their eyes filled with sorrow.
The Heavenly Sword Palace had long since been destroyed, and the Open Heaven Realm Masters of Heavenly Sword Union had suffered countless casualties. Although there were still over 100 people left who were tenaciously holding on, it was only a matter of time before they would be defeated and killed.
Red Sun Heavenly Monarch’s lips trembled violently as his face turned ashen.
Heavenly Sword Union was done for!
Heavenly Sword Union, which had been gloriously standing for countless generations, was completely destroyed after this battle. Dan Yang felt as if a knife was being twisted in his heart. Although he was resentful over the fact that Zuo Quan Hui had dragged Heavenly Sword Union into this mess, he didn’t dare say anything. For better or worse, he and Huang Mao had been saved by Zuo Quan Hui, so as long as they could escape with their lives this time, with their Sixth-Order cultivation, they might still have a chance to make a comeback in the future.
“Honoured Master!” Zi Yan suddenly looked towards Zuo Quan Hui’s waist with a look of horror on his face. Much to her shock and dismay, there was a bloody hole in Zuo Quan Hui’s body which was surrounded by raging Golden Crow’s True Fire.
[Master was actually injured!?] Zi Yan couldn’t believe her eyes.
Yang Kai had injured her Honoured Master the last time they fought in Void Territory, but that was because Zuo Quan Hui had been too careless, and Yang Kai had joined forces with two other Sixth-Order Masters. The situation was much different compared to now when he was injured in a one-on-one fight! It was shocking to think Yang Kai was actually this strong!
Zuo Quan Hui didn’t seem to have heard Zi Yan’s concern as he simply stared indifferently at Yang Kai from a few thousands of kilometres away.
Yang Kai was also looking at him, his gaze slowly shifting down to the bloody wound as a big grin appeared on his face.
It turned out Zuo Quan Hui did not come out completely unscathed from their last clash!
Just now, Zuo Quan Hui had used some kind of unknown technique to avoid his fearsome strike, while simultaneously repelling him and rescuing Zi Yan and the others. Yang Kai thought that there was still a big gap between him and Zuo Quan Hui, but by the looks of it, Zuo Quan Hui had paid a great price to achieve this.
Yang Kai was overjoyed! Although he hadn’t been able to kill Zuo Quan Hui with that blow, if he could seriously injure him, he was not that far from killing him.
Raising his Azure Dragon Spear, Yang Kai looked at Zuo Quan Hui with a defiant expression on his face.
Zuo Quan Hui took a deep breath and indifferently stated, “This Monarch will pay you back a hundredfold for the ‘gift’ you have given me today!”
Yang Kai sneered, “You don’t need to wait, let’s settle this grudge now. Let us see if you die or I perish!”
Zuo Quan Hui slowly shook his head in response, “The time has yet to come!”
Having said so, he turned around and slashed his sword towards the black hole behind him!
Yang Kai was dumbfounded at the sight of this. He was completely unable to understand what Zuo Quan Hui was doing, but he instinctively felt that something was not right.
The next moment, the black hole suddenly expanded under the influence of the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm World Force pouring out from this sword strike.
Zuo Quan Hui summoned his strength without a moment of hesitation, wrapping it around the few Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters beside him before diving in.
Yang Kai’s eyes widened in shock. [Is he courting death? That black hole is filled with nihility and chaos! Even if he’s a Seventh-Order Master, it’s impossible for him to find his way out once he’s inside. Sooner or later, he would be lost in the Void Crack and suffer a fate worse than death!]
But right then, Yang Kai felt a strange aura from the black hole. It wasn’t an aura of nihility and chaos, but rather a trace of the Power of the Stars.
[He’s trying to escape!]
Yang Kai shouted in anger, “Where do you think you’re going?!”
Pushing his Space Principles madly, he thrust his spear forward, straight into the black hole.
Yang Kai heard a muffled groan as he withdrew his spear and could see blood dripping from the tip of his spear. Be that as it may, Zuo Quan Hui and the others were nowhere to be found, and it was unknown who had been injured by that spear.
Standing in front of the black hole, Yang Kai’s gaze turned serious as he carefully examined it for a moment. The next moment, he ground his teeth in anger and shouted, “A Territory Gate!”
This black hole had formed due to the explosion of the Heavenly Sword Palace, and along with constant barrage of attacks, the Void in this region was completely shattered, which actually resulted in the formation of a Territory Gate that was connected to another Great Territory!
Yang Kai’s face turned extremely dark and gloomy. He actually let Zuo Quan Hui escape, even when he had such a good opportunity before him.
Earlier, Zuo Quan Hui deliberately stood in front of this black hole to lure him into attacking with his spear even at the expense of being seriously injured. At that time, Yang Kai clearly felt that his spear had broken something.
However, Zuo Quan Hui’s quick counterattack sent him flying thousands of kilometres away, so Yang Kai didn’t have time to carefully investigate it.
[I guess I broke the Territory Barrier at that time! He lured me into attacking him at the risk of his own life so that he could borrow my Space Principles!]
Although Zuo Quan Hui was a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, he was not proficient in the Dao of Space, so even if he personally took action, he might not be able to achieve this. On the other hand, Yang Kai could. He knew that he could not escape from Yang Kai, who was proficient in the Dao of Space, so the only way out was to borrow Yang Kai’s strength to shatter the Territory Barrier and create a new Territory Gate to another Great Territory.
If it was the past Yang Kai, he might not have been able to do this; after all, his cultivation wasn’t high enough. However, the explosion of the Heavenly Sword Palace resulted in the formation of a weak spot in the Territory Barrier, which should have closed up soon after but due to the fierce battle between the two, not only did it not seal itself, it expanded, which made it possible for this to happen.
The right conditions and the right person with the right timing made this possible. If even a single factor was missing, this would not have been possible.
The fact that Zuo Quan Hui was able to come up with such a plan and find a lifeline even in such a desperate situation was a testament to his rich knowledge and experience. He really was an old fox!
Yang Kai’s teeth were about to break from all the gnashing. He gripped the Azure Dragon Spear so tightly that the veins on his hand were bulging.
Although he was filled with unwillingness, he was unable to launch a pursuit.
His current cultivation was thanks to the World Force borrowed from the Star Boundary, so once he chased after them and left this Great Territory, he would lose that boost. At that time, not to mention the sudden loss of his Seventh-Order might, his original Sixth-Order cultivation would be too exhausted to be utilised.
Yang Kai had consumed a great deal of his energy before borrowing the World Strength and had yet to recover.
“Mercy, please! I’m willing to surrender, I’m willing to submit! I’m willing to follow Void Land’s orders from now on!” Amidst the chaos, Firm Gold Heavenly Monarch’s begging could be heard from nearby.
After Zuo Quan Hui repelled Yang Kai, although he had managed to rescue a few of his subordinates, he did not get them all.
Apart from Zi Yan, Pei Wen Xuan, and Yin Xin Zhao, he only took Heavenly Sword Union’s Red Sun Heavenly Monarch and Huang Mao with him.
Zi Yan was his only remaining Disciple, so no matter what, he couldn’t ignore her. Pei Wen Xuan and Yin Xin Zhao were both Cave Heaven disciples, so he couldn’t leave them behind either; otherwise, even if he managed to escape today, Myriad Demons Heaven and Xuan Yuan Cave Heaven wouldn’t let him go. He only helped Heavenly Sword Union’s Dan Yang and Huang Mao because it was convenient.
As for the remaining Jin Gang, Cang Yan, and Heavenly Sword Union’s Liang Ce, Zuo Quan Hu, he couldn’t do anything about them and had no choice but to abandon them!
Now that Zuo Quan Hui had escaped and Heavenly Sword Union had almost been completely wiped out, how could Jin Gang and the others still have the courage to fight?
Hearing his request, Mao Zhe and the others who were surrounding them couldn’t help but slow down their attacks. Mao Zhe even retreated and turned his head towards Yang Kai with a look of inquiry.
A Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master was considered a powerful force in the 3,000 Worlds. Although there were currently over twenty such Masters in Void Land, no one was going to complain about having a few more. The more Masters a force had, the stronger their foundation would be.
Mao Zhe could not tell what Yang Kai was thinking, but he faintly felt that Yang Kai should not refuse such a good opportunity.
To his surprise, Yang Kai just coldly glanced over and shouted, without a moment of hesitation or mercy, “Kill them!”
Mao Zhe’s heart clenched, but he joined the battle once more without any delay, unleashing his Divine Abilities and attacking Jin Gang with everyone else, causing the latter to curse and complain incessantly.
Luan Bai Feng rushed over and stood next to Yang Kai, asking in a low voice, “No matter what, those three are Sixth-Order Masters… Isn’t it a pity to just kill them?”
Yang Kai let out a cold snort, “Anyone who only knows how to bully the weak while currying favour with the strong can only have the courage of a mouse, what’s the point of keeping such trash alive? What’s more, if a Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master tries to rebel, who can suppress them? If I still had pages in my Loyalty List, I wouldn’t mind keeping them alive, but now that all nine pages have been completely filled, there is no place to write their names, unless I remove someone else’s of course.”
Luan Bai Feng’s face twitched, “I was just making a suggestion. If you want to kill them, it’s your choice.”
Luan Bai Feng could tell that Yang Kai was in a particularly foul mood, so she didn’t say anything else, lest she offended him somehow. However, she still found it a bit regretful. [Those three are Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, it would be better to throw them into the Black Territory as ore slaves than to just kill them here.]
She had been in charge of the Black Territory for many years and was always interested in acquiring all kinds of Open Heaven Realm Masters who had been pushed to the end of their ropes. She was not trying to plead for leniency for Jin Gang and the others, it was just her instinct to acquire manpower. Any Open Heaven Realm Master she could use was just an ore slave in her eyes.
However, if Yang Kai wanted her to give up her position in the Loyalty List, it would be impossible. Once someone had entered the Loyalty List, he or she would forever be a slave, unless her name was erased. And having her name crossed out meant her death!
However, after she gave it another thought, she realized that the current situation of the Black Territory was very different from before. Yang Kai could go deep into the Black Territory and bring back Ore Stars to mine, so it didn’t matter if she had Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters or not.
“What about those guys over there? We don’t need to kill all of them, do we?” Luan Bai Feng turned to look at the remaining Heavenly Sword Union forces, “They’re all below the Sixth-Order, if we train them a little, they’ll be good at mining and will be easy to control.”
Yang Kai waved his hand, “I’ll leave them to you!”
In any case, there weren’t many Open Heaven Realm Masters left from Heavenly Sword Union, so whether they killed them or not didn’t matter. If Luan Bai Feng wanted them, he could just give them to her. She had made many great contributions in this war, and if she hadn’t risked her life to save Hei He and Lan Xun, Zuo Quan Hui would have definitely gained an absolute advantage over Void Land.
A bright smile immediately bloomed on Luan Bai Feng’s face, “Many thanks, Sir!”
Luan Bai Feng was just about to take over the remaining Open Heaven Realm Masters of Heavenly Sword Union when suddenly, the aura of the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm burst out from inside the huge encirclement formed by the 1,000 Void Land Open Heaven Realm Masters.
Immediately after, a figure shrouded in Demon Qi broke through the layers of the blockade and rushed out, sending many Open Heaven Realm Masters tumbling in the process.
Luan Bai Feng’s beautiful eyes widened in astonishment at the sight of this, “Breakthrough during a battle?”
Luan Bai Feng knew exactly how many Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters there were in Heavenly Sword Union; after all, she had been there for several years and knew all of them like the back of her hand.
But at this moment, someone had broken through to the Sixth Order during this fierce battle.
Luan Bai Feng was shaken, and a storm blew through her heart!
On the Martial Dao, aptitude, opportunities, and destiny were all indispensable. Below the Open Heaven Realm, cultivators would often be able to break through to a higher realm under great pressure, allowing them to turn around desperate situations by killing enemies originally stronger than themselves. This was known as breaking through in battle.
Forget about others, Luan Bai Feng herself had experienced this once before.
She couldn’t remember how many years ago it was, but at that time, she was only in the Saint King Realm. A man who lusted after her beauty and wanted to do something heinous to her had chased after her relentlessly. Luan Bai Feng was still unable to escape from that man even after fleeing for a month.
However, during a cruel battle, she suddenly broke through to the Origin Returning Realm in a moment of life and death and defeated that sadistic bastard.
She clearly remembered that she cut off all that bastard’s limbs, severed his manhood, peeled his skin from his muscles and tortured him for three days and three nights before he finally died.
From the beginning to the end, she didn’t know the name of that bastard, she only remembered his cries and pleads before he died.
His pitiful begging was music to her ears and truly unforgettable.
However, she had broken through like this only once on her own path of growth, and she was a proud daughter of the Heavens; otherwise, she wouldn’t have reached the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm.
Yet, someone with aptitude like her had only broken through like this once in a much, much lower Realm, so one could only imagine how rare such an experience was.
This was also just for the Realms below the Open Heaven Realm.
Once someone’s cultivation had broken through to the Open Heaven Realm, he or she would need time and accumulation above all else to advance further. It was practically impossible for any Open Heaven Realm Master to break through due to a life-or-death battle, because even if they did gain some insights during that moment of crisis, it would only advance their state of mind or comprehension, not their Order.
But now, she had personally witnessed a Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master advance to the Sixth-Order in such a crisis! This came as a huge surprise to her.
“It’s that Myriad Demons Heaven’s disciple!” Luan Bai Feng’s beautiful eyes lit up as she developed a strong interest in this person. If such a man was captured and carefully examined, she might be able to gain some benefits.
“I’ll go capture him!” Luan Bai Feng stated before rushing forward. Impatience was clearly written on her face, as if she would miss out on something good if she was a moment late.
But right then, a spear suddenly appeared in front of her!
Luan Bai Feng turned her head in shock and saw Yang Kai staring at the Myriad Demons Heaven disciple who had just broken through to the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm, silently.
Even when the man rushed into the newly formed Territory Gate and disappeared, Yang Kai showed no sign of stopping him. Although he could easily stop this man with his current strength of the High-Rank Open Heaven Realm and his proficiency in the Dao of Space, he still didn’t make any moves.
Luan Bai Feng blinked her beautiful eyes in confusion, unable to understand what Yang Kai was up to.
Nonetheless, Yang Kai’s intention to let this man live was extremely obvious, so how could she not see it?
An extremely audacious idea suddenly popped up in Luan Bai Feng’s mind as she narrowed her eyes.
“If you don’t go now, none of Heavenly Sword Union’s disciples will be left,” Yang Kai indifferently stated, withdrawing his Azure Dragon Spear.
Luan Bai Feng promptly turned her head and saw that the Open Heaven Realm Masters of Heavenly Sword Union were all on their last legs. She could not delay any longer so she immediately rushed over and shouted to stop Void Land’s people.
Yang Kai turned his head and looked towards the three Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters before his figure left a long streak of light as he shot towards them, thrusting his spear out.
The eyes of Jin Gang, who was still struggling at death’s door, suddenly bulged as he stood there in a daze. He looked down and noticed that a giant hole had appeared in his chest at some point. His heart had been eviscerated and his vitality was now leaking out.
Before he could recover from his shock, a series of Divine Abilities came crashing down on him from all sides, instantly reducing him to mist.
The other two battlefields did not fare any better. Cang Yan and the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master named Liang Ce were already exhausted, so how could they possibly withstand the might of Yang Kai’s spear?
Not to mention, they were besieged by four or five Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters each by now!
The three enemy Sixth-Order Masters died one after another, and their massive World Force instantly dispersed into the void. With their deaths, the shockwaves of the fierce battle slowly subsided.
On the other side, Luan Bai Feng had also taken over the battlefield of the cultivators below the Sixth Order. There weren’t many Heavenly Sword Union cultivators left, just seventy or eighty.
In this battle, Heavenly Sword Union’s Open Heaven Realm Masters had suffered overwhelming casualties. Five Sixth-Order Masters had lost their lives, while the casualties below the Sixth-Order were in the hundreds.
The death of so many Open Heaven Realm Masters had caused the World Tree’s growth to reach unimaginable levels!
In the Star Boundary, the massive canopy over 100,000 metres tall now blocked out the sun over a vast swath of land. One could even see the towering giant tree clearly from millions and millions of kilometres away in the void.
“Recover as much as you can. Two hours later, follow me to pursue the enemy!” Yang Kai ordered before immediately sitting down cross-legged and cutting off his connection with the Star Boundary.
He knew to hit a dead snake to avoid any future trouble. He had managed to injure Zuo Quan Hui with great difficulty, so if he let him escape again, it would only be more difficult for him to kill him next time.
The last time he escaped, Zuo Quan Hui returned with Heavenly Sword Union under his command. Who knows if he would return with some ‘Earthly Sword Union’ or something next time!
It didn’t matter which Great Territory this Territory Gate led to, or what kind of dangers they might encounter on their way there, Yang Kai was determined to kill Zuo Quan Hui!
Yang Kai’s Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm cultivation rapidly started receding like a deflated balloon. Even though he was mentally prepared and knew that his cultivation would fall back once he cut off his connection with the Star Boundary, he still could not bear the backlash entirely.
Only after coughing a mouthful of blood did he feel any better.
His cultivation returned to the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm, and even his Small Universe was completely barren as his World Force had hit rock bottom. He secretly rejoiced that he had not chased after Zuo Quan Hui immediately as he would not have been able to defeat any Open Heaven Realm Master in his current state.
How could someone in the Open Heaven Realm without World Force be called an Open Heaven Realm Master?
After consuming a large number of Open Heaven Realm Pills, Yang Kai’s dry Small Universe finally received some nourishment and slowly recovered its World Force.
A short two hours was not nearly enough for Yang Kai to restore his strength to its peak, but time was not on his side. Zuo Quan Hui already had a head start, so if he didn’t chase after him now, he would not even be able to catch sight of his shadow.
Yang Kai slowly stood up and took a long, deep breath as he looked up.
22 Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters from Void Land had gathered around him, including Heavens Revelation and Wondrous Pill.
Yang Kai had already sensed their auras when he was borrowing the World Force from the Star Boundary, so he wasn’t surprised by their appearance here.
However, since the eight Great Emperors had previously poured their World Force into the Star Boundary to allow Yang Kai to borrow more power, their current condition was quite similar to his. Their auras were weak and they were probably at less than 40% of their peak.
Yang Kai nodded slightly to the two.
Iron Blood Great Emperor, Zhan Wu Hen, on the other hand, sized up Yang Kai from top to bottom. When he spotted Yang Kai’s gleaming eyes, he could not help but ask in surprise, “Did you gain something?”
Yang Kai gently nodded, “It saved me at least 500 years of cultivation!”
Yang Kai was able to reach the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm for a short period of time by borrowing the strength of the Star Boundary. Although his connection with the Star Boundary was cut off and his cultivation had receded back to the Sixth Order now, it wasn’t like he had gained nothing.
His Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm foundation had been greatly strengthened because of this, but because his Small Universe still had not recovered its World Force, he was unable to display too much strength right now.
Once he did recover his World Force, Yang Kai believed he would be much stronger than before.
This kind of gain was not inferior to when he entered the Divine Armament World.
Furthermore, he had experienced the strength of the High-Rank Open Heaven Realm first-hand, which would be of great help to him when he advanced to the Seventh Order in the future.
“That’s wonderful!” Zhan Wu Hen nodded his acknowledgement, though he felt a little envious.
Bustling World Great Emperor asked in surprise, “If you can borrow some strength a few more times, wouldn’t you be able to step into the Seventh Order directly?”
Yang Kai waved his hand and explained, “Don’t speak about it so lightly. I had to consume a great deal of the Star Boundary’s foundation when I borrowed its strength. The Star Boundary has not shown any signs of degradation because many Open Heaven Realm Masters died in this battle, and the World Tree has received a great deal of nourishment from their collapsing Small Universes, which is why its foundation has strengthened instead of weakening. If I were to do this a few more times though, the Star Boundary’s foundation would be damaged, and the consequences will be unpredictable.”
Bustling World Great Emperor nodded lightly, “That’s true.”
Since Yang Kai was able to borrow the World Strength of the Star Boundary, the other Great Emperors of the Star Boundary could naturally do the same. Originally, Bustling World Great Emperor was considering whether he should use the same method to rapidly increase their strength, but by the looks of it, although this method was feasible, it would damage the Star Boundary.
No one was willing to do this.
Yang Kai turned to Qing Kui and asked in a low voice, “Is there something wrong?”
Qing Kui had been observing the newly appeared Territory Gate all this while. Unlike a normal Territory Gates, this new Territory Gate was constantly twisting and distorting for some reason, giving off an extremely uneasy feeling.
“It’s not very stable!” Qing Kui frowned, “I don’t know what we’ll encounter if we enter it rashly. We might end up torn apart by the Void if we aren’t careful… Ah, right, never mind, if you lead the way, we don’t need to worry about that.”
Yang Kai was proficient in the Dao of Space, so he naturally had a method to deal with this situation.
“How did he create a Territory Gate?” Yang Kai couldn’t understand this, but Zuo Quan Hui seemed to have anticipated this development; otherwise, he wouldn’t have lured him to attack the black hole in the first place.
Qing Kui pondered for a moment before explaining, “Rumour has it that the Great Territories were not connected with each other in ancient times. Each Great Territory existed independent of the others. Everyone thought that the Great Territory they were in was the entire Universe. However, the Great Experts of ancient times saw through the mysteries of the world and were somehow able to open passageways to other Great Territories, which was how the original Territory Gates came to be, similar to the one in front of us. As more and more Territory Gates appeared, the number of Great Territories they could explore increased, eventually forming the current 3,000 Worlds.”
Su Ying Xue added, “If one is strong enough, they can break through the Territory Barrier between the two Great Territories and open a new Territory Gate.”
Yang Kai’s expression became ugly, “I knew it. I fell into that old dog’s trap!”
Under normal circumstances, even a fight between High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters might not be able to break through a Territory Barrier, but Yang Kai happened to be proficient in the Dao of Space. Along with the previous explosion of the Heavenly Sword Palace and various chances and coincidences, Zuo Quan Hui was able to borrow his strength to open a passageway between the two Great Territories, which ultimately gave him a chance to escape.
Otherwise, it would be impossible for Zuo Quan Hui to escape from Yang Kai’s grasp even if he was an experienced Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master. If Yang Kai could pin him down until Void Land’s Sixth-Order Masters had taken care of all their opponents, Zuo Quan Hui would not be able to resist once they had also joined and besieged him.
Unfortunately, Yang Kai had missed such a great opportunity. Who knows whether the old dog’s time had not arrived or the Heavens just did not want to side with Yang Kai.
“I have no idea which Great Territory is on the other side!” Qing Kui frowned.
“I’ll go in and take a look!” Yang Kai stated as he took a step forward.
“Allow me!” Hui Gu arrived in front of Yang Kai in a flash and rushed towards the Territory Gate without giving the latter a chance to say anything. After having personally killed Huang Quan and obtaining his revenge, Hui Gu had no regrets in this life. No one knew if there would be an ambush waiting for them on the other side of the Territory Gate or not, so the first one to rush in would be at a disadvantage. Yang Kai hadn’t fully recovered yet, so it wasn’t appropriate for him to lead the way.
From this point alone, one could see the difference between Hui Gu and Mao Zhe’s group. Both of them had left their names on the Loyalty List, but Hui Gu was far more loyal.
Yang Kai could not let him enter the Territory Gate alone though. Although this Territory Gate had been formed by his piercing through the Territory Barrier, it had just been formed and wasn’t stable yet. With his proficiency in the Dao of Space, Yang Kai didn’t need to fear the Void Turbulence. Hui Gu, on the other hand, was different; he might even lose his way in the Void if he was unlucky.
Yang Kai followed behind Hui Gu like a shadow while the others quickly chased after them.
The Territory Gate really was very unstable; it gave everyone a feeling of distortion as everyone passed through it. The Void Turbulence around them churned wildly with the air of chaos and nihility, causing everyone’s heart to clench.
Fortunately, everything went smoothly, and in the blink of an eye, all of them passed through the Territory Gate and arrived at the Great Territory on the other side.
Everyone immediately circulated their World Force as they secretly raised their guards.
But much to their surprise, there was no ambush waiting for them. Zuo Quan Hui probably didn’t have the courage to remain here and wait for Void Land to pursue him. He had lost more than half of his Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm subordinates in the previous battle, and all those below the Sixth Order had been killed or captured. If he remained here, he would just be waiting for his death. He might as well escape as soon as possible and find a place to recuperate, then look for an opportunity to make a comeback.
When everyone came to their senses, all they saw were dazzling nebulas and stars all around them. It was quite a beautiful sight.
Everyone was stunned by this gorgeous and stunning scene; even Yang Kai raised his brow slightly. Although he had seen many Great Territories, a beautiful Great Territory like this was still extremely rare.
No Great Territory could compare to this place.
There were many stars in the sky, indicating that there were many Universe Worlds in this Great Territory. There was also a Sun Star just a few million kilometres away, shining brightly while the occasional golden flare would arc up around it.
Yang Kai turned his head and looked around, silently investigating.
To his side, Qing Kui took out his Universe Chart and checked his location, trying to determine their position. A moment later, his eyes went wide in shock.
Su Ying Xue, who was standing next to him, curiously turned around and asked, “What’s wrong?”
Qing Kui raised his eyes and stared at her in a daze, muttering, “This Great Territory is not marked on the Universe Chart!”
Su Ying Xue was stunned for a moment before asking in astonishment, “Really?”
Yue He, Hui Gu, and the others also turned to look at him, their eyes filled with shock.
“What do you mean?” Duan Hong Chen didn’t understand, and the other Great Emperors also wore similar expressions; they could not understand why the others were so shocked.
Although the various Great Emperors of the Star Boundary had been brought to Void Land by Yang Kai many years ago, they had been cultivating in seclusion almost the entire time and had only recently advanced to the Sixth Order. They didn’t know much about the Outer Universe, so naturally, they didn’t know what a Great Territory that was not marked on the map represented.
Even Yang Kai didn’t dare to be certain and could only make some speculations.
Yue He and the others also took out their Universe Charts and checked to confirm it themselves. They discovered that Qing Kui was not lying to them, this Great Territory was not marked on the Universe Chart. Which also meant that they were unable to determine their current location on the Universe Chart.
It had to be known that even the Great Territory where the Star Boundary was located was marked on the Universe Chart. However, it was given a generic identification code as it was too remote and desolate, showing just how comprehensive the Universe Chart was.
The Universe Chart contained all of the Great Territories that had been discovered and explored, not a single one was left out.
But now, the Great Territory they were in was not marked on the Universe Chart, which left only one possibility.
“This is a Great Territory that has not yet been discovered!” Qing Kui excitedly stated.
Bustling World Great Emperor and the others were stunned for a moment before understanding the meaning behind Qing Kui’s words, “A new Great Territory?”
Qing Kui repeatedly nodded, “En, a new Great Territory!”
A new Great Territory meant unimaginable resources and wealth that could be obtained. Presumably, if news of this new Great Territory were to spread, it would definitely cause a huge uproar!
“How could there be a new Great Territory?” Martial Beast Great Emperor furrowed his brow. He had just heard from Qing Kui that in ancient times, every Great Territory existed on its own, and everyone thought that the Great Territory they were in was the entire world. It was only after the Great Experts of ancient times created many Territory Gates, connecting many Great Territories, that the current 3,000 Worlds was formed.
But after so many years of exploration, all of the Great Territories had been discovered. There should not be any new Great Territories.
Qing Kui replied, shaking his head, “I don’t know, perhaps some ancient Great Expert did not mark it when they were developing the Territory Gates, or perhaps it’s a Newborn Great Territory.”
Suddenly, Yang Kai, who had remained silent until now, finally spoke, “This Great Territory is very young!”
Using the word ‘young’ to describe a Great Territory was undoubtedly strange, but everyone immediately understood what Yang Kai meant.
The mysteries of a Universe World’s life and death were difficult to comprehend even for those with extraordinary cultivation at the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm. The annihilation and rebirth of a Great Territory was even more out of their reach and definitely not something they could comprehend with their current cultivation.
No one knew when this Great Territory was born, but Yang Kai could sense the young and tender age of the nearby Sun Star.
Just like how he felt that the Sun in the Black Territory was getting old thanks to his Golden Crow’s True Fire having a special connection with Sun Stars.
In contrast to the sun of the Black Territory which was like an old man with one foot in the grave, the Sun Star in front of him was a newborn baby.
[I must lay full claim to this place!]
If it were any other time, such a great discovery would have made all of them ecstatic; however, everyone was chasing after Zuo Quan Hui now and their futures would be fraught with worries and dangers if they couldn’t find him.
Yang Kai was originally a bit worried that Zuo Quan Hui would escape completely; after all, he was already two hours behind him. Two hours for a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master was plenty of time to do many things and travel a great deal of distance.
However, since they had confirmed that this was a new Great Territory, there was no need to worry about that.
Zuo Quan Hui had borrowed Yang Kai’s strength to break through the Territory Barrier and escape to this place. Before, it seemed like he had managed to find a slim chance of survival by some stroke of luck, but by the looks of it, it was a stroke of bad luck and he had fallen into a hopeless situation.
There was only one Territory Gate, so Zuo Quan Hui had nowhere to run. He was like a turtle hiding in his own shell!
“Let’s leave the matter of this new Great Territory for later, pursuing Zuo Quan Hui comes first!” Yang Kai shouted as he headed in a certain direction without giving anyone an explanation, following some traces which were left behind. Everyone quickly restrained their excitement and followed closely behind him.
Along the way, they all did their best to recover their strength and energy.
Yang Kai was not using Space Principles. First of all, doing so would consume a lot of his strength and he was trying to conserve every bit of his energy now to increase his chances of winning against Zuo Quan Hui. Second of all, it would be inconvenient for him to track the traces left behind while using Instantaneous Movement.
Luan Bai Feng was right behind Yang Kai, so she was both shocked and impressed.
If she had just made a guess when she saw Yang Kai let that Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Myriad Demons Heaven disciple go, she was dead certain now.
[The man who had broken through to the Sixth Order from the Fifth Order must be Yang Kai’s spy!]
[But how is that possible? That guy was obviously a Myriad Demons Heaven’s disciple, so when did Yang Kai get involved with him?]
She vaguely remembered that when she was in Heavenly Sword Palace, Pei Wen Xuan had addressed that guy as Junior Brother Mo Sheng!
There were almost undetectable traces of Demon Qi left in the void, so it was obvious that this guy named Mo Sheng had deliberately left a trail for Yang Kai to follow. If not for this, Yang Kai might not have been able to find Zuo Quan Hui in this vast void no matter how much he wanted to find the latter.
Luan Bai Feng couldn’t help but admire him! The more she looked at Yang Kai, the more she felt that this guy was even more scheming than Zuo Quan Hui. [What kind of sly and scheming mind is hidden behind this young man’s face? It’s one thing to send me into Heavenly Sword Union, but to think he can even put his nose into Myriad Demons Heaven is another thing altogether. It’s Myriad Demons Heaven! One of the famous 36 Cave Heavens!]
“What is it?” Yang Kai turned his head to look, sensing Luan Bai Feng’s strange gaze.
Luan Bai Feng shook her head and failed to hold her laughter, “This Mistress is thinking that her losing to you back then was not undeserved, Sir!”
Yang Kai snorted lightly, “If you have something to say, just say it!”
Luan Bai Feng slowly shook her head, not saying anything.
Yang Kai looked at her with a perplexed look on his face. After seeing that she really had nothing to say, he couldn’t be bothered with her and focused on chasing after the enemy.
Although Zuo Quan Hui only had a head start of two hours, a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master was not slow. It was not easy to catch up to him. Fortunately, Yang Kai and the others also needed to recover, so they were not in a rush.
After five days, a rich Universe World aura blew on their faces as a Star appeared in front of them.
It was an azure world and should have been peaceful and tranquil, but looking at it from the void, they could clearly see that the weather on the surface of the Universe World was rapidly degrading, thunderstorms could be seen everywhere!
“Over there!” Yang Kai stopped in his tracks as he looked towards that Universe World, narrowing his eyes.
Wu Kuang’s trail pointed directly towards the Universe World in front of him.
Qing Kui frowned for a moment before his expression suddenly changed, “Damn it, Zuo Quan Hui is trying to refine the World Force of that Universe World to recover!”
Su Ying Xue’s pretty face sank, “To think that someone from Thousand Crane Paradise would use such despicable methods!”