The risk was considerable, but using his Inner Core could dramatically boost a demon race warrior's strength.
The fact that Xue Lian had spat out his Inner Core at a time like this showed just how crazed he had become, and it was no wonder Ba He and the others were so terrified.
Xue Lian was no ordinary figure. If he used his Inner Core and still lost to Yang Kai, then the Blood Floodragon Lord would absolutely not let the matter rest. That was a top powerhouse whose strength was in no way inferior to Scarlet Moon's. If he were to fly into a rage, the entire Star Boundary would be plunged into darkness!
But if Xue Lian won, given his current state of madness, Yang Kai's fate would be anything but pleasant.
How could Ba He, Yu Xiong, and Shan Qingluo stand by and do nothing?
So no matter what, they had to stop him before Xue Lian unleashed the Source Power contained within his Inner Core! Only then would there be a chance to turn a major crisis into a minor one, and a minor one into nothing at all.
The three moved with impressive speed. They were only a hundred zhang apart, and at their level, they reached the battlefield in the blink of an eye.
Ba He opened his mouth, intending to play peacemaker and persuade the two to stop fighting, but before he could get a word out, a high-pitched cry suddenly rang out from within Yang Kai's body. The moment that sound rang out, an inconceivable wave of power spread outward.
Even someone as powerful as Ba He felt a tremor of fear in his heart.
The words caught in his throat. He stared at Yang Kai in shock, the corners of his eyes twitching.
If he hadn't misheard, that high-pitched cry just now should have been…
"A dragon's roar!" In her bedchamber, Scarlet Moon's face drained of color. She shot to her feet, her beautiful eyes gleaming with an extraordinary light, as though she had just discovered something truly extraordinary.
Even with her cultivation at the second level of the Void King Realm, the moment that sound reached her, goosebumps erupted across her entire body. It was an instinctive reverence, having nothing to do with strength.
Scarlet Moon carried a trace of the Celestial Moon Demon Spider's bloodline, which was how she had been able to cultivate to the Void King Realm. It was also why she had such high hopes for Shan Qingluo, who had absorbed the Celestial Moon Demon Spider's Source Power—she had not hesitated to take Shan Qingluo as her adopted daughter, granting her the honor of her status as a Lord and nurturing her with great care.
She hoped that one day, Shan Qingluo would bring the majestic might of the Celestial Moon Demon Spider back into the world, recreating the glory of that ancient era when the Celestial Moon Demon Spider had reigned supreme.
The Celestial Moon Demon Spider was an ancient unique species, a demon beast of terrifying power.
But compared to the legendary Sacred Spirits of antiquity, it still fell somewhat short.
Among the ancient Sacred Spirits, the Dragon and Phoenix were the most revered!
Sadly, these powerful Sacred Spirits had long since vanished into the river of history. Only the most ancient of texts could offer a glimpse of their sky-obscuring forms and their wildly exaggerated descriptions.
Those ancient Sacred Spirits that existed only in legend—strictly speaking, they could also be classified as part of the demon race. Only… they were the born sovereigns of the demon race, beings that every demon race member was expected to revere and worship.
Scarlet Moon had believed these ancient Sacred Spirits were long extinct.
Yet here, in her own palace, she had suddenly heard the purest dragon's roar imaginable.
It pierced straight through the nine heavens, deafening to the ears, and even the trace of Celestial Moon Demon Spider blood within her body trembled in fear.
She hesitated no further. Her figure blurred, and she vanished from her bedchamber, hurtling toward the battlefield at tremendous speed.
She knew that Xue Lian was in deep trouble this time!
Outside the pavilion, Yang Kai wore a cold expression. He took a deep breath, released his suppression of the mysterious power within his body, and let it erupt.
Dragon's roar shook the heavens. Amid blinding golden light, a massive golden silhouette suddenly surged out from within Yang Kai's body. The figure blotted out the sky, radiating an overwhelming aura of majesty. Its two eyes—each larger than a house—were a blazing gold-red, inspiring awe and terror in all who beheld them.
It swayed its head and flicked its tail, and the instant it appeared, it dove straight toward Xue Lian without a moment's hesitation.
Xue Lian froze. The frenzied aura surrounding him was like a blazing flame doused with a bucket of ice water, instantly extinguished.
In the instant he lost his wits, the golden dragon had already opened its massive maw, snatched up the Inner Core before him, and swallowed it whole. It then returned to hover above Yang Kai's head, gazing down upon the scene below.
"Impossible!" Mi Tian cried out involuntarily, his eyes glazed and vacant as he stared at the golden dragon, utterly stupefied by the figure that had appeared so suddenly.
"A Sacred Dragon!" Yu Xiong nearly bit his own tongue. His entire body trembled violently.
Ba He stared mutely at the breathtaking spectacle before him, as though he had lost the ability to speak.
Shan Qingluo's beautiful eyes blazed with extraordinary light. Behind her, a phantom of an enormous eight-legged spider—appearing as though cast from pure silver—suddenly materialized, standing against the overwhelming dragon's might. The phantom spider was the size of a house, nearly solid in its manifestation, with a crescent moon mark adorning its forehead.
The Celestial Moon Demon Spider!
Among all those present, only she was in a somewhat better position.
First, being human-born, the dragon's might suppressed her the least. Second, she carried the Celestial Moon Demon Spider's Source Power within her, giving her some capital to resist the dragon's aura.
Even so, she was still shocked by the golden dragon that had suddenly surged forth from Yang Kai's body.
The entire field fell deathly silent. The bloody battle came to an abrupt halt, with only heavy, ragged panting rising and falling across the battlefield.
Yang Kai glanced up, a faint look of amusement flickering across his face, and said to Xue Lian with a flat expression, "My apologies. It seems this fellow took quite an interest in your Inner Core. I couldn't hold it back!"
Xue Lian's face had turned an ashen grey. The pride in his eyes collapsed like a towering skyscraper toppling over, crumbling into nothing but rubble.