The Demon Race had deployed a cataclysmic Grand Array. Demonic intent swept across the Star Boundary, devouring its spiritual essence. Living beings across all four domains suffered terribly—nine out of every ten households stood empty, and vast stretches of once-beautiful land were transformed into demonic wastelands.
Heaven and earth possessed a will of their own. The Profound Heaven Palace opened, the Void Heaven Cauldron manifested, and Yang Kai questioned his true heart, ascending to the dignity of a Great Emperor, seizing a sliver of survival from the razor's edge between life and death.
Wielding the might of a Great Emperor, he harnessed the power of heaven and earth to contend with the encroaching demonic intent, defending the Star Boundary's last pocket of pristine land. So long as this sanctuary held, the Great Demon God's plan could never reach completion.
Left with no other option, the Great Demon God was forced to unleash a secret technique, borrowing the power of seven trapped Great Emperors to suppress Yang Kai.
Everything had proceeded smoothly, all according to plan. Though Yang Kai's ascension to Great Emperor in such a short time had posed a minor inconvenience to Mo Sheng, it ultimately changed nothing.
In the face of such a dire situation, all Yang Kai could do was cling to survival by a thread!
Yet no one had anticipated that the seven Great Emperors of the Star Boundary would actually be rescued. The moment those emperors broke free, the most immediate consequence for Mo Sheng was that he could no longer command the cosmic forces of the Star Boundary. Without that power, there was no way to devour the last remaining sanctuary. How was he supposed to continue playing this game?
The Great Demon God was incandescent with fury! He would have gladly killed every last one of Wu Wuji and the others to quell the rage burning inside him.
Wu Wuji and his companions clearly understood they had failed in their task. Every one of them wore expressions of anger and humiliation. Though they had not lost their lives, the entire ordeal had been deeply shameful. Facing the Great Demon God's verbal abuse, not one of them dared utter a word, afraid of drawing even greater wrath upon themselves.
Meanwhile, on the battlefield between heaven and earth, the ferocious combat that had raged like wildfire came to an eerie halt as the eight Great Emperors and seven Demon Saints appeared one after another.
Every denizen of the Star Boundary stared with a mixture of shock and elation at those eight figures standing tall in the void. What they beheld was not merely eight silhouettes—it was the Star Boundary's hope for the future.
Zhan Wuhen's gaze swept across the scene. When he spotted his beloved disciple drenched in blood and battered beyond recognition, a dense killing intent flashed through his eyes. He fixed a cold stare upon the Half-Saint who had been battling Lin Yun'er and the others moments before.
Under that single glance, the Half-Saint felt ice crawl through every fiber of his being. Without hesitation, his figure flickered as he shot backward at full speed.
"Leave these demon whelps to me!" Wu Kuang let out a cackling laugh, his scorching gaze locking onto each of the Half-Saints scattered across the battlefield. Without any visible movement, he appeared instantaneously before the fleeing Half-Saint and reached out with one hand.
Beneath that palm, all light was smothered. The Half-Saint's face drained of color in horror. Both fists surged forward, thick demonic energy churning as it transformed into a sky full of fist shadows hurtling toward Wu Kuang.
Wu Kuang paid them no mind. His massive hand plunged through the barrage, shattering every fist shadow as if crushing ants. He seized the Half-Saint in his grip and, with a savage grin, bellowed in a low voice: "Devouring… Battle Art!"
In the span of a heartbeat, Wu Kuang's entire being seemed to transform into a black hole that consumed all things. Visible to the naked eye, the Half-Saint held in his grasp withered away, his body deflating like a punctured wineskin. In barely ten breaths, he had been reduced to a desiccated husk, all traces of life extinguished.
Everyone from the Star Boundary had long heard of the Devouring Great Emperor and his Devouring Battle Art. They knew it to be the most sinister technique in the Star Boundary's history. But knowing of it and witnessing its horror were two entirely different things.
Until now…
Having personally observed a Demon Race Half-Saint reduced to a dried corpse in just ten breaths under Wu Kuang's hand, every soul present felt a chill run down their spine. Such a technique was nothing short of monstrous. No wonder the legends said that when Wu Kuang had once reigned across the Star Boundary, he had drawn the fury of heaven itself and the hatred of all living things—wherever he passed, all vitality was snuffed out, nothing remained.
The rumors were no exaggeration. The Devouring Battle Art's sinister and terrifying nature far surpassed anything one could imagine from mere hearsay.
After devouring the Half-Saint, Wu Kuang involuntarily licked his lips, looking thoroughly unsatisfied—as though he had just tasted something delicious and craved more. He turned his head, his crimson eyes sweeping across the numerous Half-Saints still present.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…
Each Half-Saint reacted as though they had encountered their natural predator. Not one dared remain in place any longer. They activated their escape techniques and retreated en masse. Just as they had previously charged into the Star Boundary's army with impunity—where those below the Half-Saint rank were no match for them—they now found themselves equally helpless against Wu Kuang.
Amid cackling laughter, Wu Kuang's voluminous sleeves billowed like flowing clouds as he swooped toward the Half-Saints with the bearing of a great roc spreading its wings, his face alight with feverish excitement. Then, without warning, he bellowed: "Wu Kuang, I'll screw your ancestors eighteen generations deep!"
Having delivered the curse, he resumed his cackling laughter, the sound raising every hair on the listeners' bodies…
In the past, had Wu Kuang acted this way, Zhan Wuhen would have been the first to leap forward and challenge him to a deathmatch. But with the Star Boundary hanging by a thread and the Great Demon God watching them like a hawk, Zhan Wuhen had no leisure to concern himself with Wu Kuang's antics. Compared to Wu Kuang, this nuisance, the Great Demon God was the true and immediate enemy.
Figures flickered through the air as one after another appeared beside Yang Kai, fanning out to his left and right.
Eight people, eight silhouettes, eight pairs of eyes—staring across the void at that colossal form.
Where these eight stood belonged to heaven and earth. Where these eight planted their feet was the very axis upon which the entire world turned.
"Fellow emperors, that is the Demon Race's Great Demon God—the origin from which the entire Demon Race has sprung." Yang Kai spoke up. The second war between the two realms had begun with all the Great Emperors trapped, and Yang Kai feared they might not know the Great Demon God's background, so he prepared to give them a brief explanation.
Zhan Wuhen said: "Doesn't matter who he is. Any who dare invade our Star Boundary shall be slain without mercy!"
Yang Kai twitched his nose and smiled. "Fair point." His expression turned solemn in an instant. "Then I ask all of you to lend me your strength!"
The other seven nodded in unison, and their minds surged outward like an incoming tide.