Yang Kai slowly shook his head, gradually withdrawing his hand from Ming Yue's chest, but because of Ming Yue's resistance, the movement was agonizingly slow. "I don't consider myself a sinner of the Star Boundary. You're wrong about that, my lord."
Ming Yue sneered, "Not a sinner? Then are you a hero?"
"I wouldn't go that far either, since I killed you. But I did preserve that fragment of the Star Boundary's will from falling into the hands of the Demon Race. You chose to self-detonate at my hand, my lord, so truthfully speaking, though I carry guilt in my heart, there was nothing I could have done at the time."
"Bullshit!" Ming Yue's face twisted into a hideous mask as he bellowed. "You possessed Space divine abilities! You had the capability to extract me from there all along, but you feared for your own safety and refused to take the risk, which led to my demise in the Demon Domain! You are a sinner of the Star Boundary!"
"You jest, my lord." Yang Kai's expression remained calm. "Though I possess Space divine abilities, my strength is meager and Demon Saints rule the domain. How could I possibly have taken you away?"
"Without even trying, you gave up. You simply wanted to keep yourself safe." Ming Yue's accusations grew ever sharper and more cutting, striking directly at the weakest point of Yang Kai's heart.
Yang Kai's mind involuntarily shuddered, his previously stable mental state nearly crumbling.
He had indeed questioned himself back then — when he witnessed Ming Yue's fall with his own eyes — why he hadn't acted sooner to rescue him. If he had moved earlier, there might have been a chance. There wouldn't have been that regret carved into his very soul for the rest of his life.
Seeing Yang Kai shut his eyes in anguish, Ming Yue let out a cold laugh. "Do you have anything else to say?"
Yang Kai slowly opened his eyes. "Nothing."
Ming Yue smiled faintly, his form drifting forward. "In that case, why continue to struggle in pain? Why not follow your own heart and cast off all restraint?"
"If the freedom you speak of means falling into the demonic path, I'm afraid you'll be disappointed, my lord." Yang Kai gazed at him indifferently and sighed softly. "My lord, my pain comes from the Star Boundary losing a Grand Emperor — not from failing to save you. My strength was truly too weak. I had no ability to save you…"
As he spoke, he finally pulled his hand free from Ming Yue's chest and drove a fist forward.
"My apologies, my lord!"
Where the fist struck, Ming Yue's form shattered.
Having finally delivered the apology he never got to say before Ming Yue's death, Yang Kai felt a wave of relief wash over him, as though a long-held regret in his heart had been mended.
He had spent these days carefully reconsidering whether there had been an opportunity to save Ming Yue when he first encountered him.
But after turning it over and over, he could find not the slightest chance.
The reason he had been able to enter and exit that Blood Sea safely was entirely thanks to Ming Yue's interference. Without Ming Yue's distraction, Xue Li, who was stationed there, would have detected his presence immediately. The moment he actually placed Ming Yue inside the Mysterious World Bead, the wrath of a Demon Saint would have greeted him — and not only would Ming Yue's situation have grown far worse, Yang Kai himself would have been doomed.
The Spirit Void Bead was another option — he could have left one at the World Gate in advance.
But what use would that have been?
Whether it was the Twelve Heavenly Great Demon Formation or the boundless Blood Sea formed from the blood sacrifice of the entire Zhoutian Continent, both possessed the divine power to seal heaven and earth. Within that Blood Sea, he simply could not use the Spirit Void Bead to teleport.
It was worth noting that only after Yue Sang had allowed his Dharma Avatar into that particular Blood Sea had the Avatar been able to use the Spirit Void Bead to teleport to his side. Had Yue Sang not been so careless as to let both the Dharma Avatar and Zhui Feng in, Yang Kai would have been helpless against him.
So while Yang Kai felt guilt over Ming Yue's death, it had not reached the degree of letting inner demons corrupt him.
Ming Yue's body dissolved into motes of light and scattered, but soon another figure coalesced — a curvaceous silhouette with a face that was alluring yet carried a trace of sanctity.
It was Yu Rumeng.
Yang Kai stared at her blankly, his expression complicated, thinking: How has Rumeng also become one of my inner demons? Could it be because I've been on guard against her, whether consciously or not, all these days?
"Yang Kai, the will of the Star Boundary is of supreme importance to the Demon Domain. Surrender it—"
Before she could finish, Yang Kai had already thrown a punch.
If even the illusion of Ming Yue couldn't shake his mental state, what chance did an illusion of Yu Rumeng have? Had the Heart Seal Secret Technique's effects not been transferred away, Yang Kai might have been tormented and pained by this — but now he felt nothing at all.
Never mind mere inner demons. Even in the real world, if Yu Rumeng ever dared say such a thing to him, he would swing his fist without hesitation!
Yu Rumeng's illusion shattered, disintegrating just as the previous one had.
Yang Kai's entire body felt impossibly light, and he assumed he had finally succeeded — only for the dispersed illusion to coalesce once more.
Yang Kai blinked, staring ahead with a look of curious disbelief. Who would the next illusion take the form of? Did he really have that many inner demons? Throughout his journey, he hadn't accumulated that many regrets or resentments. It made some sense that Ming Yue and Yu Rumeng would appear — but who could this third one be?
But in the next moment, Yang Kai's expression turned grave, and he stared ahead in utter astonishment.