"What the hell is this?!" Yang Kai hovered in the void, one hand pinching his chin, staring ahead with a look of utter amazement.
The massive black sphere formed by the Small World loomed before him, but right now, this black sphere had somehow split open into a gigantic mouth!
It was truly a mouth — and a terrifying one at that.
The mouth stretched open for a hundred li, resembling an enormous spatial rift! What's more, the inside was lined with sharp fangs, and the teeth clacked together with a crunching sound, as though they could gnaw through anything in the world. Even Yang Kai found the sight spine-chilling.
When the Small World had devoured the entire Yellow Spring Star, the black sphere had undergone violent convulsions and transformations before taking on this form.
Yang Kai could barely accept it — how had his World Bead turned into this? No, strictly speaking, the World Bead itself hadn't changed much; it was still that dragon-eye-sized bead. What had changed was the World Bead's Devouring Domain.
Using an entire Yellow Spring Star as nourishment — just what kind of monster had he raised? Indeed, at first glance, the World Bead's Devouring Domain now looked exactly like a monster — round, enormous, a vast black body with no facial features, only a gaping maw bristling with fangs. Utterly hideous and ferocious.
"Heaven and Earth Will?" Yang Kai furrowed his brow, murmuring to himself.
The information emanating from the Small World was growing clearer, and he could sense longing and hunger within it. Could this be the manifestation of the Small World's Heaven and Earth Will? Or perhaps it should be called an Artifact Spirit.
The World Bead had originally been nothing more than an Emperor Treasure — an Emperor Treasure without spiritual awareness. Yet now, it seemed to possess its own life.
This massive black sphere monster, so enormous that even Yang Kai in his dragon form felt minuscule beside it, must be the World Bead's Artifact Spirit. The consciousness wasn't distinct yet — just in a budding state, instinctively wanting to devour more. The gaping mouth and fangs were the concrete manifestation of the Artifact Spirit's instincts.
"Ha!" Yang Kai laughed aloud, suddenly remembering the little black dog with the Guixu bloodline that he'd left behind in the Lingxiao Palace.
Everything that seemed connected to him appeared to possess the ability to devour.
The little black dog was like that, and now the World Bead had become the same. The Dharma Body went without saying. He didn't know if this was the workings of heaven or simply destiny.
However, the devouring of the Dharma Body and the World Bead was somewhat different from that of the little black dog. The former two relied on the Heaven Devouring Battle Art when devouring, while the little black dog's devouring relied on its innate divine ability. But in the end, it was all about making themselves stronger.
A flash of insight suddenly struck Yang Kai's mind — had Wu Kuang encountered the Guixu in the past? And based on its characteristics, created the Heaven Devouring Battle Art? If so, their similarities were easily explained.
Crunch, crunch...
The sound of teeth clacking rang out continuously, as if urging Yang Kai toward something.
"Alright, alright, I'll take you to the next place!" Yang Kai stood in the void and looked around. Having a nascent will within the Small World wasn't a bad thing — every world possessed its own will. The invisible workings of heaven couldn't be seen or touched, yet they influenced the proliferation of all living things. For the Small World to have this opportunity would be enormously beneficial for its future growth.
But where should he go now? The star domain was vast, and without a clear direction, he could easily waste a great deal of time on the road.
He had it! Yang Kai looked up toward a certain direction, flashed forward, and positioned himself atop the black sphere, settling into a cross-legged seat. He swept his hand forward. "Move out!"
The black sphere seemed to sense his command — it didn't even need to be steered and immediately surged toward that direction on its own, and at remarkable speed. As it flew, its teeth continued clacking up and down, scattering fearsome sounds along its path.
There was good reason for choosing this direction: when many of the Yellow Spring Star's warriors had fled earlier, they had headed this way.
Yang Kai didn't know the distribution of cultivation stars across the Great Desolation Star Domain, but how could these natives be unfamiliar with it? Since they had gone in this direction, there must be other cultivation stars that way.
One person and one black sphere drifted through the starry sky, hurtling toward an unknown destination — the scene was indescribably bizarre.
The devouring darkness that could swallow stars seemed to have no effect on Yang Kai whatsoever. Instead, it could serve as a carriage, bearing his weight.
He reached down and patted the new "mount" beneath him. Under his palm, it felt soft, like touching a cloud — somewhat at odds with its fearsome appearance. Really, if it weren't constantly clacking its teeth and simply kept its mouth shut, it would actually look rather endearing. But having only just been born, its instinct to devour compelled it to keep making gnawing motions, and Yang Kai couldn't be bothered to stop it.
"I need to give you a name — I can't just keep calling you Black Ball, Black Ball." Yang Kai stroked his chin and muttered to himself. Just like Liu Yan, whose original form was nothing more than an artifact-refining furnace — once a name was bestowed, a life was truly complete.
"Got it!" Yang Kai's eyes lit up as he snapped his fingers. "From now on, you're called Gun Gun."
It had rolled over the Yellow Spring Star, and the Yellow Spring Star was devoured clean. The name Gun Gun seemed fitting enough.
"Crunch, crunch..." The teeth clacked together with a crisp sound.
"You think it's a good name too, right? Then it's settled." Yang Kai wore a satisfied grin, feeling himself truly a genius at naming. He clapped his hands, then adopted a troubled expression: "But I can't play favorites. I'll call the Guixu 'Little Black,' then."
With a thought, he imposed an inescapable new name on the Guixu beast — a creature that commanded fearsome fame in the Demon Realm. He wondered what the Demon Kings and Demon Emperors would think of that.
"Gun Gun, advance!" Yang Kai pointed ahead, dancing with excitement like a child who'd gotten a new toy.
"Crunch, crunch!"
"Gun Gun, devour!"