"So the key lies in how to restore vitality to this world?" A sparkle appeared in Emperor Hua Ying's eyes.
Zhang Ruoxi nodded. "That's exactly right." She paused, then continued, "I wonder if the esteemed lords have considered this—when Mo Sheng once devoured the Spirit Source of the Demon Domain, the Demon Domain at that time had no way to resist. In other words, he succeeded back then. And the Demon Domain's condition should have been far worse than the current Star Boundary, so why did the Demon Domain ultimately survive?"
Yang Kai folded his arms and grinned. "Stop beating around the bush and just say what you mean."
Zhang Ruoxi stuck out her tongue. "It's the living beings!"
"Living beings?" Yang Kai raised an eyebrow.
"The Demon Domain's Spirit Source was devoured, but its living beings were never wiped out. As long as there were living beings, there was vitality—and with vitality, the Demon Domain remained alive. The lost power of the Spirit Source could slowly recover… The only thing I can't figure out is, if the Demon Domain still had the power of its Spirit Source, why did Mo Sheng bother coming to the Star Boundary?"
Yang Kai explained. "You've never been to the Demon Domain, so you don't know what it's like over there. Before all this, the Demon Domain was already shattered beyond recognition from the battle between Mo Sheng and Emperor Sui Yue. The entire world had broken apart into scattered continents, and some of those continents had lost all life force, swallowed up by the void."
"Oh, so that's how it is!" Zhang Ruoxi's expression cleared. "Then it's not hard to explain why he chose to come all this way instead of staying close to home."
Zhan Wuhen looked toward Zhang Ruoxi. "If what you say is correct, then as long as the Star Boundary has enough living beings, this world will have a chance at recovery?"
"That should be right." Zhang Ruoxi nodded.
Zhan Wuhen turned his gaze to Yang Kai. "Yang Kai, if I recall correctly, didn't you once take in a great many people from the Star Boundary inside your Mysterious World Bead?"
"I'll see to it right away," Yang Kai replied. During the war between the two worlds, he had indeed taken in countless homeless Star Boundary citizens. Now the first territory of his Small Mysterious World was already bursting at the seams. And it wasn't just him—nearly every Legion Commander had taken in refugees within their own World Beads as well.
These people hadn't been powerful, and they couldn't contribute much in the war between the two worlds. But they couldn't simply be left to the mercy of the Demon Race either, so being stored inside the Mysterious World Beads or World Beads, they had managed to survive until now.
Who would have thought that rebuilding the Star Boundary would depend on them?
"I'll go have a word with Wu Kuang. If you need people, he's got more than you could ever use." Duan Hongchen rose to his feet as he spoke and strode out the door.
That fellow Wu Kuang had used the Ancestral Domain as the core and refined and merged every single lower-realm star field into it. Those lower-realm star fields were teeming with countless living beings.
The Star Boundary was now nearly empty—it was the perfect time to have him bring some people over to replenish the population. Wu Kuang surely wouldn't refuse.
Zhang Ruoxi added, "However, even though this is a viable method, it won't show results overnight. It could take a very, very long time, so the esteemed lords should brace yourselves for that."
Zhan Wuhen said, "The length of time doesn't matter. As long as there's still hope."
Yang Kai rose to his feet. "I'll go arrange the people in the Mysterious World Bead as well. And there are still matters concerning the Demon Race that need to be dealt with. I'll take my leave."
"Go ahead." Zhan Wuhen waved him off.
Yang Kai stood, and with a flicker of thought, vanished from the spot.
When he reappeared, he was in a modest temporary palace a thousand li from Lingxiao Palace. Yu Rumeng was at his side, and not far away, Chang Tian and Bei Limo both turned their gaze toward him.
"Husband!" Yu Rumeng called out. "What did the Great Emperors decide?"
Yang Kai patted her head and smiled. "The Demon Race matters will be handled by me."
Yu Rumeng let out a breath of relief immediately. She was a Demon Saint herself, and though many of the surviving Demon Race members had once been enemies of the Star Boundary, most of them had only been following orders, unable to make their own choices. Now that the Star Boundary had won and the Demon Domain had been utterly defeated, it would have been perfectly understandable for the Star Boundary to demand total annihilation. But if that truly happened, she, as a Demon Saint, could not help but feel some sorrow.
Since Yang Kai was taking charge, it meant the outcome wouldn't be as bleak as she feared.
Sure enough, under the watchful eyes of Bei Limo and Chang Tian, Yang Kai announced, "All remaining Demon Race members will be taken into the Small Mysterious World. None of them will be permitted to set foot in the Star Boundary ever again."
Chang Tian nodded. "That is for the best."
Bei Limo quietly let out a breath as well.
Accompanied by the three Demon Saints, Yang Kai gathered every surviving member of the Demon Race army and placed them into the Small Mysterious World, settling them into the third territory. An army of millions, cast into the vast third territory—like a stone dropped into the ocean, it barely made a ripple.
By the time this was done, half a day had passed.
Without pausing to rest, Yang Kai then traveled to every corner of the Star Boundary. He selected regions that had not been too heavily affected by the war between the two worlds and, in batches, released the Star Boundary's native citizens he had previously taken into the Small Mysterious World. He even expended his own power to cultivate suitable environments for these humans to live and reproduce in.
This took more than ten days, and Yang Kai's footsteps touched every corner of the Star Boundary's four regions.
The spark had been scattered—now it was only a matter of when it would grow into a prairie fire.