But when he thought about it, it wasn't all that surprising. That had been a battle between Great Emperors and Demon Saints, one that could very well reshape the future of both Realms. It was only natural that Chang Tian would be paying attention.
"That makes it easier to explain," Yang Kai said with a light nod. "I imagine you also witnessed the state of Zhoutian Continent after that great battle."
"The heavens and earth shattered, the world collapsed, continents were torn apart, and the Laws crumbled. The full power of Demon Saints and Great Emperors clashing — how could a mere continent hope to withstand it?" Chang Tian's expression was grave.
"What if I told you that this world, in its earliest state, was even worse off than the broken Zhoutian Continent? Would you believe me?"
Chang Tian turned his head, his pupils contracting slightly.
Yang Kai met his gaze, his expression calm, his eyes clear and unguarded.
For a long moment, Chang Tian slowly shook his head. "It's not that I'm unwilling to believe you. It's simply that this matter is too incredible."
Yang Kai smiled and said, "Surely you're aware that over the past several thousand years, numerous continents have vanished from the Demon Domain. Because of the Realm Gates, those continents were severed from the Demon Domain's territory one by one, and no one could enter them. For all these years, no one has known what actually became of those lost continents."
Chang Tian furrowed his brow. "You know?"
Yang Kai nodded. "I can enter those vanished continents. But they're not what most people imagine. They haven't been preserved in some pristine state — they've long since disintegrated. They're in even worse shape than Zhoutian Continent after the battle. And the world you see before you now is the result of fusing those vanished continents together with Zhoutian Continent. Haven't you noticed that the Laws of Heaven and Earth here, and the ambient energy, bear some resemblance to the Demon Domain?"
Of course Chang Tian had noticed. The moment he'd set foot in this place, he'd felt it. This world gave him the impression of a weakened version of the Demon Domain. He hadn't understood why before, but hearing Yang Kai's explanation, everything clicked into place.
Even though the Laws of Heaven and Earth across different Great Realms shared broad similarities, they could never be identical. Take the Star Boundary and the Demon Domain, for instance — the differences in their Laws gave rise to entirely different power systems. Yet this place called the Minor Mystic Realm bore far too many similarities to the Demon Domain.
Despite Yang Kai's perfectly reasonable explanation, Chang Tian still found it hard to believe. "How were you able to fuse those vanished continents back together?" By comparison, Yang Kai's ability to enter those long-lost continents seemed far less shocking. Since he was well-versed in the Laws of Space and could repair, maintain, and even seal Realm Gates, naturally reopening the vanished ones posed no real problem.
"Have you ever heard of the Heavenly Devouring Battle Art?" Yang Kai asked with a smile.
Chang Tian shook his head. "Never heard of it." Unlike many of the other Demon Saints, he knew nothing about the Star Boundary. Had any of the others been present, they might well have been familiar with the technique. They had invaded the Star Boundary, after all, and would have invested considerable effort into intelligence gathering.
"The Heavenly Devouring Battle Art is an extraordinary technique created by a predecessor from the Star Boundary. It possesses the power to devour heaven and earth themselves. This predecessor's name was Wu Kuang, and he achieved the rank of Great Emperor tens of thousands of years ago. One could even say that among all Great Emperors, he was the most powerful of them all. The defining characteristic of the Heavenly Devouring Battle Art is its ability to devour all things under heaven and convert them for one's own use. However, this predecessor was arrogant in his strength, believing himself unmatched, and committed many acts that invited heaven's wrath. As the saying goes, the Heavenly Dao is never wrong, and karma never goes unpaid. In the end, he aroused the fury of many, and the other Great Emperors joined forces to kill him. In that battle, he single-handedly slew four Great Emperors of his own caliber before his body was finally shattered to dust."
Chang Tian couldn't help but draw a sharp breath. "He slew four Great Emperors of the same level?" Only those who had reached that realm could truly comprehend how impossible such a feat sounded. Chang Tian was himself a Great Emperor-caliber figure. Among the entire Demon Domain, there wasn't a single one of the other twelve Demon Saints he feared. He had even fought the First Demon Saint, Huang Wuji, in single combat. But killing four Demon Saints single-handedly? That was utterly out of the question. Forget four — even while dueling Huang Wuji, if any other Demon Saint so much as intervened, he wouldn't stand a chance.
At their level of cultivation and strength, they had already reached the absolute peak. The gaps between them were razor-thin. Standing at that summit, Chang Tian could appreciate all the more the terrifying prowess of that Heavenly Devouring Great Emperor, Wu Kuang.
"That's right," Yang Kai said solemnly. "That battle is known in the Star Boundary as the War of the Emperors, and the battlefield itself is the Shattered Star Sea."
Chang Tian's face filled with longing, and he murmured, "Wu Kuang... the Heavenly Devouring Great Emperor... a once-in-an-eon genius! If only I could have tested myself against such a person in my lifetime, this life would not have been lived in vain. What a pity, what a pity..."
Yang Kai smiled faintly but didn't bother mentioning that Wu Kuang had died and come back to life, and now shared a body with the Mortal Emperor through a dual-soul arrangement that had formed a delicate equilibrium. "After that battle, the Heavenly Devouring Great Emperor's name spread across tens of thousands of years, and his reputation has yet to fade. He is universally recognized as the foremost Great Emperor in the history of the Star Boundary, and the Heavenly Devouring Battle Art he created is considered both the most sinister and the most powerful technique the Star Boundary has ever known."