The heavens and earth hummed with power. Spiritual energy ran wild. The colossal cauldron manifested, and the aura of the Great Dao flowed through every corner of the Profound Heavens Temple. At this moment, every pseudo-emperor inside—including the half-sages of the Demon Race—felt as though an invisible gate had swung open before them. Beyond that gate lay the pinnacle of martial pursuit they had devoted their entire lives to chasing, a height worth paying any price for, even one's very life!
Within the Profound Heavens Temple, figure after figure materialized, transforming into streaks of multicolored light and racing toward the location of the great cauldron.
"The Void Sky Cauldron!" Gan Li could not help swallowing hard. Only now was he certain that the intelligence the Star Boundary had obtained was correct—this Profound Heavens Temple truly housed the Void Sky Cauldron, and the key to becoming a Great Emperor lay within it. Though his heart churned with temptation and an urge surged through him to abandon all caution and rush toward the cauldron for a closer look, the Demon half-sages looming on all sides kept him firmly in check. He dared not make any rash moves.
Not far away, Jia Long stared at the great cauldron for a long moment, then turned to glance behind him. There lay a headless corpse—the man surnamed Feng whom Cang Mo had lured to his death only moments ago. Though he had perished only a short time ago, both his severed head and his headless body had already shriveled into desiccated husks.
A contemplative glint flickered through his earth-yellow eyes. So this was the final step.
Compared to the other Demon half-sages, Jia Long knew more about the situation inside the Profound Heavens Temple. On the very first day before their expedition, Xue Li had summoned him to the Star God Palace for a private meeting that lasted the entire night. No one knew what instructions Xue Li had given that evening—only Jia Long himself was privy to that information.
The other Demon half-sages only knew that once inside the Profound Heavens Temple, they were to kill as many of the Star Boundary's pseudo-emperors as possible. But that hardly required special orders; humans and demons would never show mercy to each other even in the outside world, let alone here within the Profound Heavens Temple, where the Great Dao itself was being contested.
Jia Long alone understood that in this heaven-and-earth secret realm, the key to claiming the throne of Great Emperor was inseparable from death and slaughter. Only when enough blood had been shed would the key reveal itself.
The death of the man surnamed Feng was undoubtedly the last straw that broke the camel's back.
Now that the great cauldron had appeared, the final moment of the contest for the Great Dao had arrived. All patience and scheming would be rendered useless at this juncture. If one wished to seize that singular opportunity, there was nothing to rely on but one's own strength.
With a thunderous boom, violent energy erupted. Everyone startled and turned toward the source, only to see Yang Kai's face twisted in a savage expression as his massive body charged straight at Cang Mo. The Azure Dragon Spear swept wide, and Cang Mo was sent hurtling backward, spraying blood in midair.
Just moments ago, when the great cauldron had manifested, everyone's attention had been captured—including his own and Yang Kai's. The only difference was that Yang Kai had recovered his wits faster and launched a sudden attack that Cang Mo had been unable to fully defend against.
The devastating force crashed through him, sending his internal organs into violent upheaval. He cursed inwardly at the little brute's monstrous strength—though that was hardly surprising, given the hundred-zhang dragon body on display. How could such a creature possibly lack power?
What truly filled Cang Mo with despair, however, was the trajectory of his flight. Yang Kai's sweep had sent him hurtling directly toward Jia Long. Even though he desperately channeled his Emperor Essence to stabilize himself, it was no use.
A wave of grief washed over him. He was certain this time there was no escape. Yang Kai wanted him dead—would Jia Long possibly let him live? In this place, at this moment, he was surrounded by enemies on all sides. Ten deaths, not one chance of survival.
As Yang Kai's spear thrust forward once more, his vision filled with the enormous silhouette of the Azure Dragon, and Cang Mo's eyes brimmed with utter despair.
But at that very instant, a figure suddenly streaked past him, and in the next heartbeat, a colossal presence materialized directly before him. This enormous being reeked of the most extreme stench of decay. Chunks of rotting flesh sloughed off its body and plummeted to the ground, each one cratering the earth where it landed.
This colossal figure was none other than Jia Long!
At this moment, Jia Long had activated some unknown secret technique. His body had ballooned to several dozen zhang in size. Though still dwarfed by Yang Kai's hundred-zhang dragon form, it was nonetheless an imposing transformation.
Ferocious, murderous aura poured from that titanic frame as he charged to meet Yang Kai. In an instant, a titanic battle between dragon and behemoth erupted.
When Cang Mo witnessed this, he was struck by equal parts shock and elation. The shock came from the fact that Jia Long had not seized the opportunity to finish him off—instead, he had bypassed Cang Mo entirely to engage Yang Kai. The elation stemmed from the realization that no one currently had the time or attention to spare for him.
Without hesitation, he used the momentum from Yang Kai's strike to propel himself away at full speed, flying a great distance before he could still hear the booming sounds of battle raging behind him, along with Yang Kai's furious, frustrated roars.
Having survived by the skin of his teeth, Cang Mo only then realized that his robes were drenched through with cold sweat. In that split second, he had genuinely believed he would perish on the spot. Who could have guessed that in the final moment, the situation would take such an unexpected turn? But upon reflection, if Jia Long had let him go so easily, he surely harbored no good intentions. The joy faded from his face, replaced by a layer of shadow.
Still, dwelling on it now served no purpose. The priority was to reach the location where the great cauldron had appeared. Such a heaven-and-earth phenomenon was unmistakably a beacon, drawing every surviving pseudo-emperor and half-sage in the Profound Heavens Temple toward it. If he arrived too late, someone else might reach it first. With that thought, Cang Mo cleared his mind of all extraneous concerns, popped several spirit pills into his mouth, and continued racing onward while restoring his strength.
In that earlier exchange, he had not actually sustained much damage. Yang Kai's attack was terrifying, certainly, but Cang Mo was no pushover. He had coughed up a few mouthfuls of blood, but nothing serious—nothing that would impair him in the coming contest for the Great Dao.
At this moment, both Yang Kai and Jia Long had three allies each at their sides. The pairs scattered across the battlefield, each selecting a target and engaging in fierce one-on-one duels that raged with furious intensity.
Watching helplessly as Cang Mo fled beyond his reach, Yang Kai's fury surged like a volcanic eruption, burning with the intensity to incinerate heaven and earth itself. His attacks became utterly merciless. Spatial arts, soul attacks, Draconic secret techniques—his arsenal of methods poured forth without cease, pressing Jia Long into a desperate, overwhelming defense.