That glory, however, had only lasted until the Emperor Realm…
When the Star Broken Sea opened, the most outstanding young generation of the Star Boundary had ascended to the Emperor Realm one after another. Xiao Chen was no exception, and even then, he had firmly believed that the future of the Star Boundary would hold a place of honor for him.
Now it seemed that burst of brilliance had merely been a final flash—like the last glow of a setting sun.
To this day, among the young generation, those with connections to the Great Emperors had all ascended to the second layer of the Emperor Realm. Yao Si, Lin Yun'er, Mo Xiaoqi, Li Shiqing, Gao Zhan—and Lan Xun was even more remarkable. After refining the Qiankun Tower, she had leveraged the combined power of the tower and the Star God Palace to break through directly to the third layer of the Emperor Realm.
Yet he remained stuck at the first layer of the Emperor Realm, unable to advance a single step.
If that were all there was to it, he could have accepted it. Every one of those people had extraordinary ties to the Great Emperors—some were their children, others their disciples. With a Great Emperor personally guiding their Cultivation, it was only natural they progressed faster than him. His own talent was no less than anyone's; all he lacked was that heaven-blessed advantage. In truth, it only stoked his determination to push harder and catch up.
But Yang Kai?
Yang Kai had no connection to any Great Emperor. When Xiao Chen had first met him, his cultivation had been far inferior to his own. Yet now, he had reached a level that Xiao Chen could only look up to.
He had exhausted everything he had and still couldn't draw a single step closer to the Princess—if anything, he only ended up distracting her so she had to protect him. Meanwhile, Yang Kai slaughtered the enemies around him as though it were nothing.
Xiao Chen lowered his gaze to his own hands. For the first time in his life, he felt so powerless. He craved strength. He craved becoming stronger…
The Star Boundary army was withdrawing toward the valley in orderly formation. The World Beads had already been distributed, and the commanders holding them were stowing the soldiers retreating into the valley inside the beads. Everything proceeded in an orderly fashion.
But would the Demon Race simply stand by and watch the Star Boundary army retreat without lifting a finger?
Outside the valley, countless demons surged forward in a tide, determined to keep the Star Boundary's millions of soldiers here for good.
At the mouth of the valley, numerous Emperor Realm cultivators fought to the death, buying as much preparation time as possible for the army behind them. After all, using World Beads to collect people was no simple task—it required an enormous expenditure of Divine Sense. At this moment, every False Emperor and every Half-Saint from the Star Boundary was locked in combat with the Demon Realm's Half-Saints, preventing the demon powerhouses from interfering with the valley. The entire burden of the army's retreat thus fell squarely on the shoulders of the Emperor Realm cultivators.
Wen Zishan, Gao Xueting, Qiu Ran, Chen Qian, Ma Qing, Chen Wenhao, Wuchang—one Emperor Realm cultivator after another, famous or nameless, used their very bodies to form an ironclad wall of defense at the mouth of the valley, holding back the onslaught of the demon army.
Fortunately, thanks to the terrain, only a limited number of demons could charge forward at once. Had the millions of demons on the battlefield surged up together, they would never have been able to hold.
But the situation was already perilously close to collapse. After days of fierce fighting, not a single Emperor Realm cultivator remained at full strength. One moment's carelessness, and even a Demon Commander or Demon General could cut them down.
Injuries mounted with no time to tend to them. Blood flowed freely as the cultivators gritted their teeth and endured. The radiant glow of secret arts and Artifacts flickered ceaselessly, casting the front of the valley in a shimmering haze of prismatic light.
Amid shrill whinnies, Zhui Feng charged back and forth, time and again shattering the demon army's furious assaults. Thanks to Zhui Feng, Wen Zishan and the others would never have been able to hold on this long.
With no Half-Saints or False Emperors intervening, Zhui Feng was utterly unstoppable. The creature simply galloped from one end of the valley's mouth to the other, turned, and charged again, over and over.
Each charge left countless demon corpses in its wake. The slaughter seemed to excite it to a fever pitch—its shrill neighing never ceased for a moment. On the ground, the blood the demons had shed lay thick as paste, and Zhui Feng's flaming hooves steamed it into a nauseating stench.
But there was only one Zhui Feng. As more and more soldiers were packed into World Beads and transported away through the spatial law within the valley, fewer and fewer fighters remained in the Star Boundary army.
"Xueting, take the others and go first!" Wen Zishan swept his sword forward, clearing a vast area in front of him, then spun his head and shouted at Gao Xueting.
"I'm not leaving!" Gao Xueting stood right beside him, the Blazing Sun Mirror hovering above her head. Searing beams of light lanced from the mirror, striking the demons with a sizzling hiss.
Wen Zishan flew into a rage. "You never listened when you were little, and you're even worse now! When will you ever listen to me for once?"
Gao Xueting didn't so much as glance at him. Her face was pale, but she pushed the Blazing Sun Mirror's power to its absolute limit and said flatly, "If you don't like me being disobedient, you should never have picked me up in the first place!"
"You're going to be the death of me." The words had barely left his mouth when a splurt of blood sprayed from Wen Zishan's lips.
Gao Xueting's expression changed in alarm. She rushed forward to steady him, her red lips trembling. "You—how are you?"
"I don't think I can hold on…" Wen Zishan's features were weak and drained. The corner of his mouth twitched as though he wanted to smile, but the smile never came. The light in his eyes dimmed rapidly. In a feeble voice, he said, "Listen to me. Go. Quickly."
Gao Xueting shook her head, her fine hair whipping in the wind, her eyes rimmed red. "Don't chase me away this time. From now on, I'll listen to everything you say."
"Really? Don't lie to me."