The power born from the Mysterious World Bead bore an extraordinary resemblance to the might of heaven and earth — the two could almost be said to stem from the very same origin.
"Another force of heaven and earth?" Wu Kuang cried out in shock.
"How can this kid wield the force of heaven and earth? Where did it come from?" Duan Hongchen was equally astonished.
Never mind that Yang Kai had yet to officially advance to the Emperor Venerable realm — even those who had been Emperor Venerable for years and cultivated their powers to perfection at the third tier would be incapable of wielding such a force. Only a Great Emperor, only a Great Emperor could perceive the might of heaven and earth, and only a Great Emperor possessed the right to command even the faintest thread of it.
The third tier of the Emperor Venerable realm was already the absolute pinnacle of the martial path, and even the Great Emperors' cultivation had not surpassed that boundary. What separated them from ordinary third-tier Emperor Venerables was their comprehension of heaven and earth's might.
To comprehend the might of heaven and earth was to qualify as a Great Emperor, surpassing ordinary third-tier Emperor Venerables by force.
Yet here and now, Yang Kai had actually wielded a strand of heaven and earth's might. Though it paled in comparison to the genuine force of heaven and earth — like the difference between father and son — it was unmistakably the power of heaven and earth all the same.
Both Great Emperors were deeply shaken, far more so than when they had witnessed the Golden Sacred Dragon's Origin Force and the Mountain River Bell.
"Because of that bead?"
Wu Kuang's gaze blazed as he stared at the Mysterious World Bead, his expression one of deep contemplation. Were it not for his wariness of the force of heaven and earth, he would have released his divine sense to probe it thoroughly on the spot. Precisely because he exercised such caution, he remained unaware of what type of Artifact the Mysterious World Bead truly was.
If Wu Kuang had identified the issue, Duan Hongchen naturally had as well. He stared at the Mysterious World Bead with furrowed brows, cross-referencing it against every famous Artifact stored in his memory, yet found that not a single one matched.
He had never seen this Artifact before.
That was a peculiar thing indeed. Duan Hongchen had lived for untold tens of thousands of years — the notion that some renowned Artifact in the Star Realm existed that he had never heard of was virtually impossible.
Yet now, one had appeared right before his eyes.
Regardless of what the bead truly was, Yang Kai's ability to wield the force of heaven and earth was undoubtedly connected to it!
Could this also be a Primordial Treasure? The moment that thought crossed his mind, Duan Hongchen was startled, but he quickly dismissed the conjecture. Primordial Treasures were easy to identify — the aura of ancient antiquity they emanated could not be concealed. The Mountain River Bell was exactly like that.
The Mysterious World Bead contained its own miniature world within. Since it was a world, however small, it naturally possessed its own force of heaven and earth. As its master, Yang Kai shared a spiritual bond with the Bead — their minds were in accord — and so he could extract the Mysterious World Bead's force of heaven and earth to counteract the calamity.
The problem was that the Mysterious World Bead was merely a small world, and could naturally not compare to the true heavens and earth.
The difference in strength between the two forces of heaven and earth was plain to see.
Rumble…
The Mysterious World Bead's force surged forward, rising to meet the onslaught, and soon it collided head-on with the true force of heaven and earth.
Yang Kai watched with a tense heart. If even this proved insufficient, his only remaining trump card would be to release the seal on his own demonic qi, transforming into the body of an ancient Great Demon to resist this tribulation.
However, if he took that step, Yang Kai did not know whether he could reseal the demonic qi afterward. It had been several years since the last time he had broken the seal, and the Azure Tree planted in the Small Mysterious World had accumulated a fair amount of sealing power. In theory, it should be sufficient — after all, one year of growth for the Azure Tree in the medicinal garden was equivalent to a hundred years in the outside world.
Several centuries' worth of sealing power — surely that would be enough to suppress the demonic qi's eruption?
Yet there was a drawback. Each time the seal was broken, more sealing power was required to re-subdue the demonic qi. Yang Kai had discovered this flaw the last time, and so he intended to avoid using this trump card unless absolutely necessary.
Who was to say that the Azure Tree's sealing power might one day prove insufficient, failing to contain the ancient demonic qi and allowing him to fall into demonhood, losing all sense of self? Yang Kai had never dared to underestimate the pure demonic qi of an ancient Great Demon.
Heaven and earth trembled. The cosmos shattered.
That eerie space seemed on the verge of splitting apart.
Wu Kuang and Duan Hongchen's expressions changed simultaneously.
The collision of two forces of heaven and earth produced shockwaves beyond imagination, as though two worlds had crashed into one another — ages passing in a single instant.
Visibly, the force of heaven and earth born from the Small Mysterious World was gradually dissolving, clearly no match for the true power of heaven and earth.
But even as it faded, Yang Kai distinctly felt the pressure upon him ease considerably, and the discovery brought a flush of joy to his face.
Once the Mysterious World Bead's force of heaven and earth had completely dissipated, Yang Kai's expression turned solemn. His hands flew through a series of seals, desperately rallying his own Origin Power. His spiritual sea flung wide open, and the power of his soul surged outward like a tidal wave.
The Mountain River Bell blazed with brilliant light, its heaven-suppressing aura growing ever more ferocious.
The remnants of heaven and earth's might seemed to struggle still, but under Yang Kai's desperate assault, the Mountain River Bell bore down and suppressed it outright.
BOOM — with a thunderous explosion, the Mountain River Bell fell to the ground not far in front of Yang Kai, the radiance on its surface gradually receding as the residual force of heaven and earth was sealed within, imprisoned and immobile.
The aftershocks faded, and all returned to calm.