Yang Kai hadn't considered that angle yet. After all, he had spent several years in the Demon Domain and never noticed demons having such a predilection. But hearing Fu Ling mention it, he had to admit there might be some truth to it.
The reason he hadn't seen it in the Demon Domain was that the Demon Domain was nothing but demons.
Now that the demons had breached the Star Boundary's interior, the situation was entirely different from before. If they truly had some special fixation, it wouldn't be surprising for it to surface now.
"Move!" Yang Kai spun around and let out a long shout. Moments later, a figure descended from the sky—Ying Fei, cupping his fists. "Sir!" Yang Kai nodded, Space Laws rippling outward as he enveloped the two of them, vanishing from the spot in an instant.
By now, he had split the Jizi Army into two divisions. One was commanded by Bai Zhuo, sweeping from south to north. The other was led by his Dharma Avatar, pushing from east to west.
Bo Ya was still recovering from his injuries within the Small World and wouldn't be fit for duty for some time yet. He couldn't be of use for the moment.
It wasn't that Yang Kai wanted to split his forces. The Jizi Army was indeed in formidable shape, but the demons were no pushovers either. This time they had come out in full force—all the Half-Saints had been mobilized. The trouble was that the Northern Domain was burning on every front, and there were simply too many places that needed rescuing. Splitting up was the more efficient approach.
It was a helpless measure.
The two great divisions raced across the Northern Domain in a crisscross pattern, heading for various locations. Yang Kai himself rode ahead with Ying Fei on a scouting mission to gather intelligence on enemy movements. Fu Ling had insisted on tagging along, declaring that as the Jizi Army's banner commander, she absolutely could not stray too far from the corps commander.
Yang Kai didn't want to waste time arguing with her, so he simply brought her along.
They had barely scouted the first city before encountering a scene of unspeakable human tragedy.
"The blood in the city hasn't fully dried yet. The demons likely haven't been gone long. Sir, this way!" When it came to tracking, Ying Fei was a consummate expert—Yang Kai couldn't hope to match him. Following the direction he pointed, Yang Kai surged forward with fluctuating Space Laws, his form flickering as he sped onward.
From a distance, Yang Kai spotted an enormous black stain in the sky ahead—pitch-black as ink, exuding an eerie demonic aura. From within that black stain, the presence of another world seeped through.
Understanding dawned on Ying Fei. "It looks like they're heading back to that demon den!"
Yang Kai snorted. "Perfect. Time to take a look!"
Ever since returning from the Western Domain, he had spent the past few days dashing around the Northern Domain with the army, racing to put out fires here and there. He hadn't yet had the chance to investigate what those ink spots and the demonic territory beneath them actually looked like.
He had seen them before in the Western Domain, of course, but the ink spot there had only just opened before he resealed it. The demons that had crossed over from it were either dead or had fled. Though the rift between the two realms had been sealed, the corrupted demonic ground beneath the ink spot had not disappeared.
Yang Kai was keen to find out how these ink spots in the Northern Domain differed from the one in the west.
Now that he was in pursuit, this was the perfect opportunity to investigate.
There was no need for Ying Fei to guide him further. The trail left by the demon army's passage pointed directly toward the demon den ahead.
Several thousand li away, Yang Kai's form flickered a few times before he arrived. Hovering in the void, he surveyed the scene and furrowed his brow. As far as the eye could see, demonic ground stretched in every direction. Within that corrupted terrain, trees stood withered and dead, grass turned gray and lifeless—it was truly as if one were standing inside the Demon Domain itself, creating an intensely uncomfortable sensation.
Having inherited Mingyue's legacy and bearing the recognition of Heaven and Earth's will, Yang Kai possessed a level of perception in any part of the Star Boundary that no ordinary person could match. But of this patch of demonic ground before him, he could not detect even a trace of the Star Boundary's presence!
In other words, the area the demonic ground had consumed could no longer be considered part of the Star Boundary. It had become the Demon Domain!
More than that, within the demonic ground—imperceptible to the naked eye—the Laws of Heaven and Earth pulsed faintly. With each pulse, the demonic ground's area expanded ever so slightly and silently.
Only Yang Kai could sense this. Any other pseudo-Emperor who came here would likely notice nothing at all. The rate of expansion was glacially slow, but it was undeniably happening—the demonic ground was continuously eroding the Star Boundary's territory.
This place had apparently been a sect's foundation—mountains rose in succession, and amid the forests stood numerous pavilions, towers, and terraces. It had clearly once been a place of lush mountains and clear waters. But the ink spot had appeared directly above this entire sect, and its territory, along with the land stretching tens of thousands of li in every direction, had long since been transformed into demonic ground.
From somewhere amid the mountains came faint sounds of agonized screaming and bitter weeping.
Yang Kai was startled, thinking he might be hearing things. But listening carefully, the sounds were unmistakable.
There were survivors!
He had assumed that wherever the demons went, they would slaughter every living creature in the Star Boundary—or at the very least corrupt them with demonic energy, turning humans into demonfolk. He hadn't expected anyone here to still be alive. He had no idea what horrors they had endured, but the crying and wailing were truly heart-wrenching.
Yang Kai tilted his head, listening to pinpoint the source. Moments later, his figure swayed and he vanished.
When he reappeared, he was standing inside a valley. The valley was a hive of activity, teeming with demons who were working with feverish intensity.
Numerous enormous cauldrons had been erected throughout the valley, filled with either boiling water or searing hot oil.
Demons carried the butchered, disemboweled corpses of humans and tossed them into the boiling water or cast them into the vats of scalding oil, where they sizzled and crackled. The entire valley reeked with a bizarre, grotesque, and utterly nauseating stench.