A full half hour passed before the commotion on the high platform finally subsided. Before the watching crowd, a crashing sound echoed as the sea of blood receded, revealing the scene within.
Despite having braced themselves for it, the expressions of the Star Boundary’s pseudo-emperors still darkened involuntarily when they saw what lay on the platform.
There, Lin Rusong lay sprawled in a corner. His already aged frame had wasted away to little more than skin and bones, his desiccated body riddled with wounds of all sizes. He was drenched in blood from head to toe, a truly wretched sight.
Beside him lay his ruler-shaped Artifact. Once brilliant and radiant, the ruler was now as dull and lifeless as Lin Rusong’s own clouded eyes, its surface marred by numerous patches of corrosion.
The wasted body and the Artifact, stripped of its spiritual essence, spoke volumes about the ferocity of the battle that had just occurred.
Meanwhile, his opponent, the Blood Demon half-sage, knelt on one knee not far away, gasping in deep, ragged breaths. His scarlet eyes blazed with killing intent as he stared coldly at Lin Rusong, who lay less than thirty zhang away.
Judging by the Blood Demon’s condition, while he had won this fight, it had been anything but easy.
Under normal circumstances, a duel between a pseudo-emperor and a half-sage almost invariably ended with both sides suffering devastating injuries, unless one side possessed a clearly overwhelming advantage.
Staggering to his feet, the Blood Demon let out a series of eerie, cackling laughs. He took slow, deliberate steps toward Lin Rusong.
“Elder Lin!” someone cried out.
Though Lin Rusong looked utterly tragic, his chest still rose and fell faintly—he was clearly still alive. In this state, both combatants were spent. While the Blood Demon appeared slightly better off, if Lin Rusong could muster one final, desperate strike, a reversal wasn’t impossible.
But until the Blood Demon stood directly over Lin Rusong, the elder remained utterly unresponsive.
The Blood Demon raised a hand. A thick, crimson mist materialized around his body. He pointed a finger at Lin Rusong, and the dense mist coalesced into writhing blood-serpents that burrowed into the elder’s seven orifices. Lin Rusong’s eyes snapped open, his face contorting in excruciating pain. He looked toward the Star Boundary’s group and reached out a hand, grasping desperately, as if trying to seize a lifeline.
Meeting those clouded yet still yearning eyes, a profound sense of powerlessness washed over the Star Boundary’s pseudo-emperors. It felt as though a volcano was building pressure in their chests, ready to erupt at any moment.
Watching an old veteran like Lin Rusong be led step by step to his demise, anyone couldn’t help but feel a sense of mournful kinship—pity for the fallen hare echoed in the heart of the fox. Beneath the pain, a quiet worry grew: Would they be the next to ascend that platform for a life-and-death struggle? Would they follow Lin Rusong’s path?
What truly ignited the fury of the gathered pseudo-emperors was the Blood Demon half-sage turning his head, a smug and savage grin twisting his features as he glared at them, every inch of his expression radiating provocation.
Yang Kai watched him, the cold light in his eyes as unyielding as eternal ice.
Meeting Yang Kai’s gaze, the Blood Demon’s grin widened. His lips moved silently, forming words without sound. From the shape of his mouth, it seemed he was saying: “Come kill me if you can!”
Lin Rusong never managed to turn the tide. The injuries he had sustained earlier were already severe, and now, bound by the Blood Demon’s secret art, he was utterly powerless to resist.
Ten breaths passed, and the last flicker of life within him finally vanished.
Visibly, his already withered corpse transformed into a dried husk. Within the Void Heaven Cauldron, the Origin Heaven Fruit, as expected, plumpened another degree. Its alluring fragrance grew even more potent.
Seeing this, the onlookers knew Jia Long’s earlier words had been correct. Only three more deaths were needed here for the fruit to reach full maturity. And when that happened, the final contest for the Great Dao would begin.
With a *whoosh*, the victorious Blood Demon’s figure vanished from the platform, instantly reappearing among the Demon Race’s ranks. It wasn’t by his own will—he had been transported back just as he had been teleported onto the Life-and-Death Stage before, against his volition.
Jia Long glanced back at him and gave a slight nod. “Well done.”
The Blood Demon gave a self-satisfied smirk, then sat cross-legged and closed his eyes to begin healing. His fight with Lin Rusong had left him badly injured; if he didn’t recover quickly, he certainly couldn’t participate in the struggle ahead.
At this moment, whether among the Star Boundary’s pseudo-emperors or the Demon Domain’s half-sages, a single, unsettling thought echoed in every mind: Who would be next on that stage? If it was them, who would their opponent be?
The thought hadn’t fully formed when a faint stir arose beside them.
Having learned from before, no one panicked this time. Every gaze immediately snapped to the Life-and-Death Stage. Upon seeing what was there, the Star Boundary group gasped in alarm. Yang Yan and Bing Yun’s pretty faces darkened instantly.
The challenger for the Star Boundary’s second life-and-death battle was none other than Yang Kai!
Looking to his side, Yang Kai, who had been standing there moments ago, was indeed gone.
Yang Yan’s expression turned frantic. She couldn’t understand it at all. How could the Will of Heaven and Earth have chosen Yang Kai to fight? Wasn’t he already bearing a portion of that Will? Logically, Heaven and Earth should be partial to him. At a time like this, they absolutely shouldn’t have forced him into this. Whether he won or lost, this fight offered no benefit to Yang Kai. Victory would only drain his strength, and defeat would bring a tragic end.
In that instant, Yang Yan even felt an urge to curse aloud. This damned Heaven truly had no eyes.