At the border of the Great Desolation Star Domain, Wu Heng's face was ashen.
He had been locked in a standoff against that all-consuming darkness for half a year, pouring every ounce of his strength into merely slowing its rate of devourment. He couldn't stop it at all. In half a year, he had lost no less than hundreds of millions of li of starry sky!
That swathe of territory was several times larger than the territory of the Heng Luo Star Domain he had devoured over the course of three years.
Who exactly was that person across from him! And how had they managed this?
He himself had once driven the Great Desolation Star Domain to swallow the Heng Luo Star Domain, so he naturally understood the grueling effort it required — a painstaking, inch-by-inch grind that could never be accomplished overnight. Back then, the Heng Luo Star Domain hadn't even had a Star Domain Lord, so his devouring had met virtually no resistance.
Yet now, with him actively containing the advance, the other side's encroachment was still this rapid. What was the reason behind it?
If that were all, it would have been one thing, but there was another matter eating away at Wu Heng.
Over this half-year period, deep within the Great Desolation Star Domain, he had lost three Cultivation Stars one after another — from Huangquan Star to Kuanglang Star, then to Feixie Star — each vanishing from the star chart as though it had never existed at all!
Those were three Cultivation Stars, not three meat pies! What methods had Yang Kai used to steal them away?
The Great Desolation Star Domain had no shortage of Cultivation Stars, and losing three wasn't exactly a fatal blow. The critical point was that this was only the beginning. Three Cultivation Stars lost in half a year — what about a year? Ten years? A hundred years?
If it ever reached the point where the entire star domain had no Cultivation Stars left, what meaning would the star domain's existence hold? He, its Star Domain Lord, would be nothing more than a title.
The one small comfort for Wu Heng was that after Feixie Star, Yang Kai seemed to have made no further moves. He didn't know what the man was doing in that area.
As the Star Domain Lord, if he truly wanted to spy on Yang Kai's whereabouts, it would have been child's play. But he didn't dare do so, because the moment his attention wavered even slightly, the speed of the other star domain's encroachment would skyrocket.
He couldn't go on like this. If this continued, his end would surely be grim. Did he really have to resort to that?
Wu Heng's expression shifted again and again — fury, humiliation, defiance, a flood of emotions. He had never imagined that in this lower-plane star domain, on his own territory, he could be backed into such a corner!
...
On a dead star, Gun Gun hovered in midair, its massive dark body rhythmically contracting and expanding in an endless cycle.
Yang Kai stood nearby, watching it intently.
He didn't fully understand what was happening now. He could only sense it in a vague, hazy way.
It seemed that Gun Gun had eaten its fill!
Along the journey, Gun Gun had devoured a total of three Cultivation Stars. After it completely swallowed Feixie Star, it had closed its mouth, no longer producing that crunching sound, and then remained at the spot where Feixie Star had once been, undergoing this transformation.
He tried to communicate with the Small Profound World, only to find that his mind couldn't enter it. All he could do was watch and wait.
If his sensing was correct, then Gun Gun's current state was one of digestion.
Three Cultivation Stars were not so easily consumed. Even after being swallowed into the Small Profound World, they had to be properly digested. Otherwise, the slight differences in the Laws of Heaven and Earth would be enough to cause the Small Profound World's space to collapse on itself, and every living being on those three Cultivation Stars would perish without a trace.
After this transformation, the entire Small Profound World would likely be reborn. Clinging to that hope, Yang Kai waited quietly.
He wanted to check on the situation with the Dharma Body, but the distance was simply too great now, and he was deep within the Great Desolation Star Domain, making contact impossible. But he figured Wu Heng's days must be absolutely miserable — otherwise, his recent activities wouldn't have gone so smoothly. If Wu Heng had been able to spare even a moment's attention, he would have taught Yang Kai a lesson.
At that thought, Yang Kai let out a chuckle. Those who provoked him never met a good end. Even Wu Kuang had suffered greatly at his hands, let alone a mere Wu Heng.
Time trickled by. In the starry sky there was no sunrise or moonset, and Yang Kai had no idea how long had truly passed.
But each undulation of Gun Gun's body seemed to bring about some change within it.
Yang Kai could clearly sense that its will was growing much sharper and more distinct. This could only mean one thing — Gun Gun was digesting successfully, fusing the Laws of Heaven and Earth from the three devoured Cultivation Stars into a single whole, no longer separate from one another.
After another stretch of time, that will became even clearer. It still wasn't at the level where it could communicate with Yang Kai, but it could now respond to his contact in its own way.
The most obvious change was in Gun Gun's shape.