Every major realm was a hurdle for warriors. Cross it, and an entirely new world opened up before you — the Emperor Realm was no exception.
Wave after wave of terrifying natural might descended from the heavens. Dark clouds blanketed the sky, lightning cracked and thunder roared, the sheer force of it enough to chill the blood.
A clear, resounding phoenix cry pierced the sky. Where Su Yan stood, an ethereal silhouette of an ice-blue phoenix gradually materialized. The phantom was colossal beyond measure, its head raised in a piercing call. The unique aura of a Sacred Spirit erupted outward with a thunderous boom, freezing everything within a thousand li into solid permafrost. The onlookers in the distance stared with undisguised shock.
Inside Yang Kai, the power of the Golden Holy Dragon's origin stirred restlessly, bearing an almost irresistible urge to resonate with Su Yan's Ice Phoenix origin. Had he not suppressed it with all his might, his dragon form would have manifested on the spot.
This surprised him. He hadn't expected that when Su Yan broke through to the Emperor Realm, he would feel such peculiar sensations of his own — though whether that was due to cultivating the Yin-Yang Union Art, he couldn't say.
Time trickled past. The natural might grew ever more fierce, yet the phantom of the Ice Phoenix refused to dissipate, its presence swelling to match the heavens' wrath head-on.
At last, a visible ripple of force exploded outward in every direction, sweeping across the land and surging toward the four cardinal points.
The colossal Ice Phoenix phantom vanished without a trace. The dark clouds overhead scattered, and sunlight flooded the sky once more.
The world returned to calm.
It was a long while before the watching warriors dared to approach and investigate, but there was no sign of the person who had broken through — they had apparently departed at some point unnoticed.
Still, the spectacle had far surpassed what one might expect from an ordinary Emperor Realm breakthrough, and it became a hot topic among the warriors of the nearby cities for some time.
With Su Yan having broken through to the Emperor Realm, she now possessed at least some means of self-preservation, which eased Yang Kai's mind somewhat.
Five days later, the group of five returned to Lingxiao Palace. They bade each other a tender farewell at the teleportation array, and several of the beautiful women shed quite a few tears, which left Yang Kai feeling a pang in his heart.
After seeing Su Yan and the others off and settling his Senior Sister in, Yang Kai was the last to step onto the teleportation array. However, instead of teleporting to Tiger Roar City, he headed for the Wuhua Hall in the Southern Region. Ever since their conspiracy had been foiled, Wuhua Hall had become Lingxiao Palace's branch in the south, and a full fifty thousand disciples had been stationed there.
A number of them had been conscripted to the Western Region battlefield to fight the demons, but that was only a small portion — ninety-five percent of the disciples remained here, cultivating and growing stronger.
Yang Kai drew no attention to himself, heading straight for Wuhua Hall's forbidden ground — the place where the Extraterrestrial Gale raged.
The last time he had visited, he'd noticed that the Extraterrestrial Gale possessed unfathomable power. At the far end of the canyon, something was hidden — some unknown treasure that generated the gale and allowed warriors to temper their physical bodies within this very canyon.
Since he was heading to the Demon Realm, he needed to prepare as thoroughly as possible. If there was a treasure sitting in his own branch's territory, Yang Kai naturally intended to try and claim it. Even if it proved useless, there was nothing to lose.
Stepping into the canyon, he found a number of disciples positioned near the front, enduring the baptism of the Extraterrestrial Gale to temper their bodies. However, their cultivation levels were not particularly high, so they could only manage the outermost reaches.
Yang Kai flashed past in an instant, undetected.
As he ventured deeper into the canyon, sheltered hollows carved into the cliff walls gradually appeared — places where one could take refuge from the gale and rest. The power of the wind grew increasingly fearsome, but Yang Kai felt no fear. With his half-dragon body and formidable physique, this degree of gale was still far from enough to harm him.
It wasn't until a full incense stick's worth of time had passed that the oncoming gale began to sting his skin. The invisible, formless wind sliced across his flesh like blades. Only then did Yang Kai circulate his Emperor Essence to shield himself, though he didn't slow his pace in the slightest.
Moments later, even his protective Emperor Essence was shredded to pieces, rendering it useless. The omnipresent gale cut into his body from every angle, drawing golden blood from wounds across his frame and staining his robes a brilliant gold.
Yang Kai showed no intention of stopping. He continued forward at the same unhurried pace.
The hissing of the wind never ceased. The depths of the canyon felt like a forbidden zone — even someone as powerful as Xi Lei had only dared to cultivate in the outer regions, never venturing too far in. Yang Kai's physique far surpassed Xi Lei's, but whether he could actually reach the very end, he honestly couldn't say.
All one could do was try his best and leave the rest to fate.
The deeper he went, the more terrifying the gale became.
Gradually, countless fine cuts covered Yang Kai's body. Even with his impressive recovery, these wounds refused to close quickly. Golden blood streamed from the lacerations, and with each step he left behind a pair of golden footprints on the ground. His entire body was drenched in his own blood.
The gale was exceedingly peculiar — not only did it carve into his flesh, but it seemed to penetrate his organs, bones, and meridians as well. By the end, every step Yang Kai took was accompanied by the creaking of his bones, and the pain in his vital organs was nearly unbearable.
Left with no choice, he shifted into his half-dragon form. The situation improved marginally, and he pressed on.
His half-dragon body had grown slightly — from thirty zhang to thirty-two zhang. That was likely the result of his dual cultivation with Su Yan over the past few months, allowing the Golden Holy Dragon's origin power to merge more fully with his own.
Boom… boom… boom…
With every thunderous step Yang Kai took, the entire canyon trembled.