The vast Star Boundary now had only the area within a thousand li of Lingxiao Pavilion in the Northern Region left uncorrupted. Armies from across the Star Boundary converged upon this place, and two great elders of the Dragon Clan personally held the line. Here, the final battlefield of the decisive battle between the Human Race and the Demon Race would be drawn.
Victory would buy a sliver of breathing room.
Defeat meant eternal damnation!
Since the conflict between the two realms began, countless lives across the Star Boundary had been lost. Nine out of ten households stood empty. Across all four regions—East, West, South, and North—humans who had been corrupted into demonic creatures could be seen everywhere, their minds stripped away by demonic will, knowing only slaughter.
Though Lingxiao Pavilion was vast, it could not possibly accommodate so many people. Now that armies from across the Star Boundary had gathered, it was packed beyond capacity. Many soldiers had no choice but to remain inside Realm Pearls day after day.
And the many Realm Pearls that Yang Kai had forged were all filled to the brim.
Perhaps it was the last protection of Heaven and Earth's will. The previously unstoppable demonic will, after corrupting the Eastern, Southern, and Western Regions and most of the Northern Region, finally met resistance within a thousand li of Lingxiao Pavilion.
The speed of corruption slowed to a crawl, and in the end it could not advance even an inch. Somewhere beyond mortal reckoning, some force surrounding Lingxiao Pavilion blocked the demonic will's advance, preserving for the humans of the Star Boundary their last foothold.
Now that the Demon Race had nearly claimed the entire Star Boundary, neither the Demon Saints nor the Half-Saints beneath them could tolerate the continued existence of Lingxiao Pavilion. Only by corrupting this last bastion could the demons' grand plan be brought to complete fruition.
Perhaps there was also a trace of unease over their defeat in the Battle of the Grand Dao.
And so, ten days after the Battle of the Grand Dao ended and three days after the fall of the Eastern Region, the demon army struck.
A seemingly endless swarm—every major demon cave had emptied its ranks, converging from all directions to surround Lingxiao Pavilion. Without so much as a word of greeting, they launched a full-scale assault.
The first to attack Lingxiao Pavilion were not the demon army proper, but the corrupted humans turned into demonic creatures. These numbered ten, even a hundred fold the main demon forces. In the current state of the Star Boundary's four regions, they could be found virtually everywhere. The demon army need only round them up and drive them forward to amass a staggering horde.
Maddened and knowing only slaughter, these corrupted humans charged toward Lingxiao Pavilion under the demons' command, utterly heedless of death.
The strength of these demonic humans was generally low—any soldier from the Star Boundary's armies could cut down swathes of them. The problem was their sheer numbers.
Outside Lingxiao Pavilion, a brutal siege began.
Facing former compatriots, Li Wuyi could only harden his heart and issue the order to annihilate them. In a mere three days, tens of millions of demonic humans lay dead outside Lingxiao Pavilion. For a thousand li in every direction, rivers of blood flowed and corpses piled in layer upon layer.
And as those demonic humans died, the demonic energy within their bodies dissipated, finally tainting the earth that had been protected by Heaven and Earth's will. Outside Lingxiao Pavilion, the corrupted land began advancing once more. Though slow, if this continued, eventually even Lingxiao Pavilion would not be spared.
Zhu Yan Fuzhun flew into a rage and charged out of Lingxiao Pavilion straight toward the demon army. Though he unleashed a devastating display of power, he was quickly restrained by Xue Li, Fu Yu, and Huo Bu. In the ensuing battle, the demons suffered considerable casualties, but it made no difference to the greater outcome.
The white strands in Li Wuyi's hair had multiplied further. Each day, countless times, he raised his eyes to gaze at the Void Sky Cauldron hanging in the sky, watching the characters flickering around the massive cauldron, silently praying for Yang Kai's swift return.
Ten days after the final battle began, the corrupted land advanced five hundred li toward Lingxiao Pavilion. Five days later, another three hundred li…
Only two hundred li outside Lingxiao Pavilion remained uncorrupted.
As time passed, the demons' assaults grew ever fiercer while the Star Boundary's forces struggled to hold the line. Despair spread through the armies. Under the crushing pressure, many were on the verge of breaking. Small and large disturbances erupted throughout Lingxiao Pavilion.
Beset by enemies without and chaos within, the powerful experts were stretched to their limits.
As the great battle raged on, within the Profound Heaven Temple, inside the Void Sky Cauldron, beneath the Divine Tree, Yang Kai lay in a state between sleep and wakefulness.
After swallowing the Source Heaven Fruit, he had been overcome with drowsiness. The lethargy was impossible to resist. After managing a few words with Yang Yan and the others, he had sunk completely into unconsciousness.
His mind was empty and clear, his body devoid of sensation—as if he had returned to his mother's womb. A feeling of peace enveloped him, and new life was being born.
At some moment, his consciousness flickered awake for an instant, and he could not help but contemplate his own Dao.
Had it not been for his previous experience of questioning his true heart, Yang Kai might not have known what he wanted. But after that extraordinary experience, he now understood with perfect clarity what he needed to do.
Find his own Dao—the Dao acknowledged by Heaven and Earth!
And his Dao was the Dao of Space!
Memories of the past drifted through his mind. Bits of insight regarding the Laws of Space surfaced one by one. He recalled his first glimpse of the path, then his modest accomplishments, his entry into deeper understanding, his growing mastery, and finally his moment of sudden clarity…
Going through it layer by layer, Yang Kai's understanding of his own Dao grew ever clearer.
The void trembled. Tiny cracks appeared in the surrounding space, snaking through the air like ethereal serpents.
All of his demonic energy and every ounce of his divine sense were rapidly converging toward a single point within his body, showing signs of condensing into a mysterious seal.
Dao Seal!
Though no one had ever told him about this process, experiencing it himself, Yang Kai quickly grasped his own condition.
Gathering the essence, spirit, and vitality of his entire being—his lifelong comprehension—to condense the Dao Seal that belonged to him alone!
Only in this way could he walk his own Dao and truly possess it.