To have slain the Great Emperor of the Ages at his peak while still nursing his own wounds—and though he himself had been battered to smithereens afterward—the gap between them was plain for all to see.
The Great Demon God's power stood above that of the Great Emperor of the Ages.
Yang Kai had known he was powerful, but he never imagined he would be this strong. He and Wu Kuang were both Great Emperors, and while Zhang Ruoxi was not one herself, in this moment she was no less formidable than any of them. In other words, even a combined strike from three Great Emperors had been effortlessly neutralized by the Great Demon God.
The battle now was different from before. Earlier, they had been fighting over the last patch of pure land, relying on their mastery of the world's power—whoever controlled more of that power held the advantage, regardless of their own strength. In that kind of struggle, Yang Kai had been blessed with the Star Boundary's world will, giving him an unrivaled edge, and he hadn't yet felt the full terror of the Great Demon God. But now, in this moment, he felt it—genuinely and truly.
And the power of heaven and earth left him deeply confused. In theory, only one who bore the will of heaven and earth could wield such power. How could the Great Demon God accomplish it? Moreover, the power emanating from him felt strangely unfamiliar to Yang Kai, as if it did not belong to the Star Boundary's cosmos.
Seeming to read the confusion in Yang Kai's heart, Zhang Ruoxi said, "The path of martial arts is divided into what lies within the cosmos and what lies beyond it. Within the cosmos, the Emperor realm is the peak. Above that, one breaks free from the cosmos's constraints, transcends the boundaries of the world, and forms a world within one's own body. He is currently at the Open Heaven realm—he doesn't need to draw upon the cosmos and the earth to wield the power of heaven and earth."
"Open Heaven realm?" Yang Kai's eyes went wide, much as they had years ago when he'd first leaped from a lower-star domain and heard of the Dao Source realm for the first time—amazed, and threaded with excitement.
So this was the path beyond the Great Emperor realm? Mo Sheng had said as much before—that the so-called Great Emperor was merely a title, not a true realm of cultivation. And now that Yang Kai himself bore the form of a Great Emperor, he resonated with those words.
The reason a Great Emperor was called a Great Emperor was precisely because they could mobilize the power of heaven and earth and command the forces of the entire world. In essence, they had not truly surpassed the Emperor realm—they were simply far more powerful than ordinary Emperors. Relying on the world, supported by the world—that was what made a Great Emperor. Without this world, a Great Emperor was nothing more than an empty title.
And as Zhang Ruoxi had said, after the Emperor realm, one needed to break free from the cosmos's constraints, transcend the world, and form a world within one's own body...
Yang Kai couldn't help but recall the sensation of swallowing the Heaven and Earth Source Liquid in the Xuantian Hall—that miraculous feeling when the liquid had burst open within his stomach, like the splitting of sky and earth at the dawn of creation.
Was it that same feeling?
He didn't doubt Zhang Ruoxi's words. She had received the inheritance of Tian Xing, and Tian Xing, like the Great Demon God, was a power that existed beyond the cosmos. She would naturally be familiar with the martial arts system that lay beyond its boundaries.
No wonder the Great Demon God could wield the power of heaven and earth. Yang Kai had previously thought something was amiss, but now it was clear—the power he was drawing upon wasn't the Star Boundary's heaven and earth, but his own. He had long since broken free from the cosmos's constraints, forming an entire world within himself.
"What realm are you at now?" Yang Kai turned his head and looked at Zhang Ruoxi with curiosity.
Ruoxi slowly shook her head. "Within the cosmos!"
Though she had spent decades in secluded cultivation and her strength had grown enormously, the inheritance she received could not possibly elevate her beyond the Great Demon God's level in so short a time. So while Ruoxi was now as powerful as a Great Emperor, she had not yet reached the Open Heaven realm.
"Then we're as good as dead!" Yang Kai grinned. The words said one thing, but his expression betrayed not a shred of fear—if anything, he looked eager for a fight.
Crossing realms in battle was nothing new to him—but fighting above his weight class while in the body of a Great Emperor? That was actually a little exciting.
Zhang Ruoxi said, "It's hard to say. His strength has plummeted and he's far from his peak. Who lives and who dies will depend on each side's skill."
"Just what I was thinking!"
The moment those words left his lips, Yang Kai had already thrust his spear at the Great Demon God. Before the massive weapon, a black sphere flickered into existence and vanished, and the aura of a collapsing world spread outward.
Zhang Ruoxi also brought her sword sweeping down through the air, her movements ethereal and otherworldly, as if she were beyond the mortal realm.
But the force of that single sword stroke made Mo Sheng's expression shift. As the blade descended, he showed a flicker of pain, as though struck by some invisible attack, and his body stiffened for an instant.
The Azure Dragon Spear struck at that very moment, crashing toward him.
Mo Sheng couldn't block in time. The spear slammed into his shoulder, and as the forces of heaven and earth collided, flesh and blood erupted from the wound in a spray of torn meat. His massive body staggered backward, a deafening roar tearing from his throat.
"So that's how it is..." Wu Kuang's hearty laughter rang out as he launched himself forward, his eyes burning with fervor. "The Open Heaven realm? It seems this old man hasn't gone down the wrong path after all."