After that battle, Li Wuyi broke into a cold sweat. Thank heavens he had summoned the two Dragon Clan Elders in time—otherwise, the consequences would have been truly unthinkable.
Fu Zhun had been wounded. The injuries weren't light, but they weren't too severe either. Combined with the Dragon Clan's formidable physical constitution and extraordinary recovery ability, she would likely heal after some time of recuperation.
And after this battle, the war entered a peculiar period of calm.
On the Star Boundary's side, ninety-eight of the one hundred and eight Demon Caves had been completely cleared out. Only ten remained, but none dared make a move lightly, deterred by the might of the Demon Saints. Zhu Yan and Fu Zhun—who was still in her recovery period—kept a constant watch on the movements of those three Demon Saints at all times, fearing they might suddenly emerge from somewhere and wreak havoc.
Though the battle was being fought within the Star Boundary itself, the sudden appearance of the three Demon Saints meant the initiative had fallen into the demons' hands.
With this advantage, the demon side had actually settled into the status quo, refraining from rashly launching any offensive.
In these chaotic times, this rare tranquility carried an oppressive sense of an impending storm.
A thousand li beyond Canglang City in the Northern Region, atop the very mountain where Yang Kai had once stood side by side with Bing Yun, five figures now stood gazing intently into the distance. All five had solemn expressions as they stared toward the city a thousand li away.
Among them were Commander Yao Si of the Jizi Army, Army Commander Bing Yun of the Bingchen Army, Army Commander Fu Renjie of the Wuyin Army, Army Commander Pan Gengnian of the Jiahai Army, and Army Commander Shentu Xing of the Yi Wu Army.
Fu Renjie needed no introduction—he was a native of the Northern Region, though before the war between the two realms erupted, he had lived in seclusion among the mountains, immersing himself in the landscape and hoping to one day achieve sudden enlightenment of the Great Dao, unknown to the world. When the war broke out, Li Wuyi had personally invited him to come out of retirement and take up the post of Wuyin Army Commander. The old man was a good fellow—in the Western Region, Yang Kai had struck up a bit of a rapport with him.
Pan Gengnian, Commander of the Jiahai Army, had an even more remarkable background. He had followed Emperor Bing Yu since childhood, serving as both disciple and attendant—effectively the Emperor's half-disciple, though without any formal title of master and student. Emperor Bing Yu had a quiet, reclusive temperament and had always lived in the Northern Region's treacherous ground, the Yixiantian. Had the war between the two realms not been so far-reaching, the Emperor would never have entered the world so readily. With Emperor Bing Yu coming out into the open, Pan Gengnian naturally followed.
As for Shentu Xing, Commander of the Yi Wu Army, he hailed from the Star Court. People in the Northern Region of the Star Boundary today might not know this man, but if one traced back ten thousand years, his name in the Northern Region would have been blazing like the midday sun. Rumor had it that he had entered the martial path at the age of ten, reached the Emperor Realm by a hundred, and by three hundred had already attained the third level of the Emperor Realm—unrivaled across the entire Northern Region. He had once founded a Sect, but stayed for only two hundred years before departing without a word, vanishing into the unknown thereafter.
The Sect he left behind had shallow roots and crumbled within a few hundred years of his departure, which was why the people of the Northern Region no longer remembered Shentu Xing's name.
Who could have guessed that he had joined the Star Court long ago and long since advanced to the realm of Pseudo-Emperor?
With the fighting across most of the Star Boundary now quieted, only the last ten great Demon Caves remained, like ten nails driven into the Western Region of the Star Boundary. The fifty-five great armies of the Star Boundary had naturally been converging toward a single location.
The five armies of the Northern Region had gathered here—millions of soldiers in a grand host, facing off at a distance against the demons holding Canglang City.
"Commander Yao, how long has Lord Yang been in the Demon Domain?" Fu Renjie gazed into the distance for a while before suddenly asking.
Yao Si replied, "Over a year."
"Over a year…" Fu Renjie frowned. After more than a year, there should have been some news at the very least, but Yang Kai had yet to transmit any information from the Demon Domain. It seemed he still hadn't found the trace of the Emperors.
The entire Star Boundary was now sustained by only the two Dragon Clan Elders. But they were, after all, only two—while the Demon Saints numbered three. Even if one Elder could keep each Demon Saint occupied, there was still a third that no one could watch.
And the consequence of not watching was a Demon Saint with free rein to slaughter.
In fact, that was exactly what had happened over ten months ago, when the Demon Saints first revealed themselves. Huo Bu and Fu Yu had remained stationed within their Demon Caves to tie down the two Dragon Clan Elders' attention, while Xue Li had slipped out silently and made his way to a location where Star Boundary armies were camped, unleashing a massacre.
Fortunately, the Star Boundary now had spatial teleportation arrays scattered across the land like stars, and Void Spirit Pearls had become widespread. Several Pseudo-Emperors had managed to hold Xue Li back for a short time, and both Dragon Clan Elders had arrived in a flash.
Xue Li was badly startled. After exchanging a few hurried blows with Zhu Yan and Fu Zhun, he transformed into a streak of blood and fled. Zhu Yan and Fu Zhun feared it might be a trap and didn't dare pursue for too long, forced to watch him escape.
After that, Xue Li roamed across all four regions of the Star Boundary, attempting multiple strikes, but never achieved anything of real impact. The moment he made his move, it was only a brief time before the two Dragon Clan Elders materialized out of thin air.
By now, Xue Li had no trouble deducing the reason. He ground his teeth in fury, yet could do nothing about it.
If not for this, with three Demon Saints on the demon side, why would they have remained so docile? It was precisely because the Star Boundary's mobility was simply too strong. Even if the three of them joined forces, they had no confidence that they could kill the two Dragon Clan Elders—at best, they would end up in a mutually devastating stalemate. No one was willing to undertake such a foolish endeavor.
Thanks to the Void Spirit Pearls and the spatial teleportation arrays, the Star Boundary had managed to secure this brief period of peace amid the chaos.
"What exactly are the demons trying to do?" Bing Yun's elegant brows knitted tightly as she gazed toward Canglang City a thousand li away. At this moment, within the city, a peculiar structure was gradually taking shape. When they had first seen it months ago, no one had paid it any mind. But after several months, the thing had already risen to a height of a hundred zhang—and as time passed, it continued to grow taller and taller.