Among all the Half-Saints, Di Li's opposition had been the loudest, though she had been overruled at the time. Yang Kai had known nothing of it.
That Di Li's shadow also lurked behind this affair was something Yu Rumeng had not anticipated. Three of her subordinate Half-Saints were now entangled in the mess, and even she was beginning to feel a headache coming on. If it had been only Yue Sang, the solution would have been simple—kill the chicken to scare the monkeys. But three was rather too many. If she punished all three too severely, it could well provoke dissatisfaction among the other Half-Saints.
A Demon Saint was the pinnacle of power in the Demon Realm, yes, but the number of Half-Saints under their command was equally fundamental to their standing. A Demon Saint with vast cultivation but no one to carry out orders was rather pointless.
While they were speaking, Bai Zhuo returned with a dark expression. He cupped his fists and reported: "My Lady, there has been no response from Yue Sang."
"No response, or simply refusing to respond?" Yu Rumeng turned to look at him.
Bai Zhuo replied: "It should be a refusal to respond…"
"Has he gone mad?!" Yu Rumeng's fury flared. The entire affair today had been set in motion by Yue Sang—Di Li and that female Succubus had merely been lending him a hand—yet now they could not even get in touch with the instigator. "Keep sending messages. Tell him that if he does not appear before me within one hour, he need never appear again."
Bai Zhuo started, clearly not having expected the punishment to be so severe. But he quickly cupped his fists and departed to deliver the ultimatum.
Yu Rumeng fumed for a while before turning to console Yang Kai: "Rest assured, I will give you an answer on this matter."
Yang Kai shook his head slowly. "There's no need. I'll handle my own affairs."
Yu Rumeng frowned, glanced at the Dharma Avatar standing nearby, and gave a slight nod. "As you wish, but it will have to wait until this business here is concluded. What's happening here takes priority." She was quietly relieved, in truth. While she herself was perfectly willing to give Yang Kai a reckoning, if she were to act personally, Yue Sang was one thing, but Di Li and that female Succubus would certainly not survive it. If word got out, it could very well drive them into the arms of another Demon Saint.
But if Yang Kai took matters into his own hands, the situation would be far less grave. She had already noticed that his Dharma Avatar possessed the cultivation of a Half-Saint, but Di Li and that Succubus were not to be trifled with either. Even if Yang Kai acted personally, he might not necessarily be able to do anything to them.
Conflict among the Half-Saints under her command was nothing new. Yue Sang and Bai Zhuo, for instance, had long harbored mutual grudges—something everyone knew. But so long as it did not interfere with her broader interests, she had no intention of intervening.
She had never interfered in such disputes before, and it was best to keep it that way. Opening that door now would make it impossible to keep the scales balanced in the future.
"You're injured, I hear?" Yang Kai turned to look at her.
Yu Rumeng did not wish to dwell on the matter and replied offhandedly: "A minor wound, nothing serious. But you—what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be on the Hundred Spirits Continent?"
"Heard there was a bit of excitement, so I came to join the fun." Yang Kai bared his teeth in a grin. "I just never expected that the great Emperor Bright Moon would be here."
"He has always been here."
"If he's already trapped in this place, why hasn't he been killed?"
Yu Rumeng shook her head slowly. "It's not as simple as you think. If it were merely a matter of killing him, he would already be dead. We kept him alive for other purposes, only…"
"Only what?"
Yu Rumeng sighed. "Only no one expected that he could recover to his peak state under these circumstances. So the situation has changed."
Yang Kai frowned. "Bai Zhuo mentioned earlier that for all the Half-Saints, what's happening here is both a life-and-death gamble and a tremendous opportunity. What exactly is going on?"
Yu Rumeng glanced sideways at Bai Zhuo, a hint of reproach in her look for having spoken too freely.
Yang Kai shrugged. "If it's inconvenient to say, then don't. I'm just here for the spectacle anyway—getting to witness the fall of a Great Emperor firsthand isn't bad at all. By the way, does Bright Moon still have any chance of survival this time?"
Yu Rumeng chuckled softly. "Your resentment toward the Star Boundary runs as deep as ever, I see."
Yang Kai snorted coldly. "If they hadn't pushed me so relentlessly, how would I have ended up in my current situation?"
Yu Rumeng gave him a sidelong glance. "What's so wrong with the Demon Realm? From where I stand, you've been living rather well lately."
"Nothing's wrong with it, exactly. It's just that I'm still human, after all. I always feel a bit out of place here." Yang Kai let out a light laugh, then abruptly shifted the topic. "You still haven't answered me. How much of a chance does Bright Moon actually have?"
Yu Rumeng regarded him with a smile. "All twelve Demon Saints of the Demon Realm have mobilized. How much of a chance do you think he has?"
Yang Kai let out a low whistle. "Sounds like he's dead for certain, then."
Just then, Li Shiqing suddenly rushed over from nearby. Her face was pale as she grabbed Yang Kai's arm and stared at him with desperate urgency: "Please—save Lord Bright Moon!"