Suddenly, Chi Yan burst into laughter, his booming laughter rolling like thunder as flames surged and churned around his body.
A moment later, the laughter cut short and Chi Yan's gaze turned cold as ice. "You've got some nerve!"
Yang Kai sighed. "It seems the Saint Sovereign disagrees. What a pity."
Chi Yan said, "If what you say is true, this Sovereign can simply capture you and achieve the same result."
"So the Saint Sovereign intends to make a move on me?" Yang Kai gazed at him with a perfectly calm expression.
Chi Yan glanced around.
Yang Kai said, "Perfected Lady Ru Meng isn't here."
The moment those words left his mouth, Chi Yan raised a hand and a streak of firelight coiled toward Yang Kai like a rope.
A graceful figure abruptly materialized before Yang Kai. Sensing the scorching power, her delicate face tightened. She surged her Demon Origin and an aura of biting cold billowed outward, forming an ice shield that interposed itself before them. The flames crashed into it, and both forces melted away into each other, the void erupting with a thunderous boom.
"Damn it!" Two furious shouts rang out simultaneously—one from Bei Li Mo and one from Chi Yan.
Bei Li Mo was seething with irritation. She had been perfectly content inside the Small Profound World when she suddenly felt a force pull her out here. Before she could even collect herself, she found herself face-to-face with Chi Yan.
Cold and heat had never been compatible. Among the many Demon Saints, Bei Li Mo and Yu Rumeng didn't get along, but that was simply because their territories were adjacent. If anyone among the Demon Saints truly got under her skin, it wasn't Yu Rumeng—it was Chi Yan!
The two Demon Saints mastered fundamentally opposed Laws, making them each other's natural nemesis. Among the other Demon Saints' territories, all manner of Demon clans mingled together, but in Bei Li Mo's domain there wasn't a single Flame Demon to be found, and in Chi Yan's territory, not a single Frost Demon existed.
Yang Kai had summoned her out now to face Chi Yan—it was a meeting of matched opponents, a confrontation between worthy adversaries.
Chi Yan's shout of anger came from feeling he had been deceived by Yang Kai, his humiliation quickly giving way to rage. He had thoroughly scanned the area and confirmed there were no other auras besides Yang Kai's. He never expected Bei Li Mo to suddenly appear.
Yang Kai shrugged. "Perfected Lady Ru Meng really isn't here." Yu Rumeng was still inside the Small Profound World.
"Bei Li Mo!" Chi Yan roared. At this point, he had no energy left to be angry at Yang Kai. What truly baffled him was that Bei Li Mo would actually side with Yang Kai. His voice was thick with disbelief. "Have you lost your mind?"
Bei Li Mo didn't answer. Her shapely figure trembled as an overwhelming expanse of ice shards materialized behind her, each one radiating a cold, glacial gleam and stretching several zhang in length. She pointed a slender finger forward and issued a soft command: "Go!"
The shrill sounds of ice cutting through the air filled the void as countless shards hurtled toward Chi Yan in a relentless barrage.
Chi Yan flipped both hands upward, and an equally uncountable number of fireballs surged to meet them, each one matching a single ice shard.
Moments later, fireballs and ice shards collided and overlaid one another, erupting in cloud after cloud of vapor throughout the void, detonating in a chain of thunderous explosions.
Before one exchange had settled, the next had already begun. Bei Li Mo formed a series of hand seals, her palms separating and then coming together again, and she uttered a low command: "Seal!"
A massive block of profound ice materialized without warning in the void, instantly encasing the area where Chi Yan stood in frozen stillness. The enormous expanse of space was completely frozen over, Chi Yan along with it.
But in the very next instant, flames erupted across Chi Yan's body as scorching power surged forth. The profound ice melted at a visible rate, and within a few breaths, Chi Yan had broken free.
Bei Li Mo's decisive attack had thoroughly enraged Chi Yan. With a furious roar, he opened his mouth wide and an eight-hundred-li sea of fire engulfed the void.
Yang Kai had already vanished from his spot with a flash. When he reappeared, he was standing atop Gun Gun's back, alert and watchful.
The continent below hadn't been fully devoured yet, so even with a powerful enemy bearing down, Yang Kai couldn't afford to stop halfway—he had to see it through to the end and let Gun Gun consume the continent entirely.
As he had expected, Chi Yan and another Demon Saint had arrived. But what about the third?
Yang Kai didn't know whether the last of the neighboring Demon Saints had come as well. As a precaution, he needed to protect Gun Gun. Standing on the creature's back, his mind was already in contact with Yu Rumeng inside the Small Profound World, ready to summon her at any moment and catch the enemy off guard.
Still, Yang Kai wasn't particularly worried. He still had Yu Rumeng. Even if one or two more Demon Saints showed up, she could hold them off for a time.
Unless three or more additional Demon Saints arrived, no one would be able to interrupt Gun Gun's devouring. But two had already appeared—there was no way three more would come.
The Demon Saints were all busy recovering from their injuries. Who among them would have nothing better to do than gather in force? Only the neighboring Demon Saints, upon sensing something amiss, would bother coming.
Far off to the left and right, in the distant reaches of the void, dazzling flashes of light continued to erupt intermittently, accompanied by violent waves of power radiating outward—the aftershocks of two separate battlefields where Demon Saint-level beings clashed.
Yang Kai waited and waited, but no additional Demon Saint ever came. It seemed that this time, only Chi Yan and the other Demon Saint currently fighting Chang Tian had come to investigate.
But he did not let his guard down.
Not until a full day later, when Gun Gun had completely devoured the continent, did Yang Kai withdraw the creature. Ripples of the Space Law emanated from his body as he traversed the void.
The realm gate wasn't far away, so it took very little time for Yang Kai to reach it. He waved a hand and released Yu Rumeng. Their eyes met, and Yang Kai nodded. "Proceed according to plan."
"How many came?" Yu Rumeng asked.