In the void, the Temple of Time floated in stillness. Upon the steps of the great hall, Yang Xiao and Yang Xue stood in solemn silence.
The two had received the legacy of the Emperor of Time many years ago. They cultivated together and lived together, and over the years their minds had long since become attuned to one another. In battle, they moved as one—advancing and retreating in perfect unison.
Since Yang Kai intended to test them, they naturally had to fight together.
Though both had grown tremendously over the years and now possessed the cultivation of a two-stage Emperor, combining their power to drive the Temple of Time meant that even an ordinary three-stage Emperor would not be their match. Yet facing Yang Kai, they still felt pressure as crushing as a mountain.
Yang Kai simply stood there, his body emanating not the slightest hint of aura, yet he seemed like an impossibly towering mountain before them—even craning their necks to look up, they could not see the summit.
"Auntie, we have to go all out this time!" Yang Xiao's palms were slick with sweat, but in his eyes burned a blazing battle intent, fierce enough to scorch a hole through the very heavens.
Yang Xue gave a slight nod and drew a soft breath. Within her amber eyes, threads of electric light flickered to life.
Yang Kai stood a hundred zhang away with his hands clasped behind his back, his expression utterly relaxed. He chuckled and said, "Don't say I'm bullying you two little ones. Use whatever attacks you like. I won't draw upon the Star Boundary's natural power—I'll suppress my cultivation to match yours. Within three moves, if you can touch me, you win!"
Yang Xiao flew into a huff. "Father, you look down on us far too much! I haven't been wasting my years. I'm far stronger now than I ever was back then."
"Enough talk. Make your move." Yang Kai beckoned with a curl of his finger.
Yang Xiao gritted his teeth, and Yang Xue puffed her cheeks indignantly. "Very well then—please receive our first strike, Big Brother!"
The instant her words fell, both of them formed hand seals simultaneously. There was no need for discussion, not even a glance exchanged between them. Their movements were as synchronized as a single person performing them—utterly indistinguishable.
Yang Kai nodded approvingly. Years of joint Cultivation had made the two little ones perfectly attuned to each other's minds. Such terrifying synchronization would be difficult even for twins to achieve, yet they displayed it effortlessly—proof that they had indeed been training diligently all these years.
As the seals shifted, Yang Kai let out a laugh. "Shuttle of Time, is it? I know that one too."
As he spoke, his own hands shifted through a series of seals.
The Shuttle of Time Seal was the Emperor of Time's signature technique. Yang Kai had learned it long ago and had even grasped a sliver of the Time Dao. Later, by using the Small World to devour the various continents of the Demon Domain, he had discovered an ancient battlefield—and that battlefield was precisely where the Emperor of Time had once fought the Great Demon God to the death.
Within that ancient battlefield remained countless traces left behind from their battle eons ago. Yang Kai had immersed himself in studying them, as though recreating the very confrontation between the Emperor of Time and Mo Sheng. He had comprehended the full essence of the Shuttle of Time.
His Shuttle of Time Seal was, in effect, taught by the Emperor of Time in person!
Unlike Yang Kai, Yang Xiao and Yang Xue had received the Temple of Time itself and inherited the Emperor of Time's legacy. They had devoted themselves to Cultivation for many years under the Emperor of Time's own hand.
The Dao of time surged between them. Both sides shifted their seals as the power around their bodies roiled and churned.
Though Yang Kai began his seal a beat later, he finished first.
A low murmur resounded between heaven and earth.
*The passage of time, like a shuttle through a dream.*
A palm struck forward.
At the same instant, upon the Temple of Time, Yang Xiao and Yang Xue each thrust out a palm of their own.
The power of time surged toward each other, colliding in midair and neutralizing one another. In that space, the flow of time seemed to experience centuries passing in a single heartbeat.
Yang Kai raised an eyebrow. He suddenly sensed an unusual fluctuation emanating from the Temple of Time. The battle, which had been evenly matched, was broken in an instant. The time-based law wielded by the two little ones solidified by three full degrees, shattering his own Shuttle of Time Seal into pieces.
"The Temple of Time has such an ability?" Yang Kai exclaimed in surprise.
The fluctuation coming from the Temple of Time actually served to enhance the power of Yang Xiao and Yang Xue's techniques.
Yang Xiao threw his head back and laughed. "Auntie and I inherited our master's legacy, and the Temple of Time was our master's own palace. Using time-based techniques while upon this temple naturally carries unique advantages. Surprised, Father?"
In the span of a few words, Yang Kai's Shuttle of Time Seal collapsed like an avalanche—while the two little ones' power of time, though somewhat diminished, still surged forward with ferocious momentum.
But it was not over yet. Yang Xue gave a sharp cry: "Second strike!"
The moment her voice rang out, a small hourglass materialized before her. Within it, divine sand swirled and drifted outward—exactly ten thousand and eight grains.
This was the Time Sand that the Emperor of Time had painstakingly refined through boundless effort.
The grains of Time Sand drifted forth and enveloped the Shuttle of Time Seal, each amplifying the other, making the combined power of the two great techniques truly terrifying.
Yang Kai retreated sharply, his expression grave.
"Spring drowsiness, summer languor, autumn torpor, winter slumber…" Yang Xiao waved his hand with a casual air. An invisible force surged from his palm, entwining with the Time Sand. He gazed at Yang Kai with a light smile. "You must be tired, Father. Why don't you get some rest?"
Three strikes merged into one, and their power surged yet again.
Yang Kai's entire field of vision was filled by the ten thousand and eight grains of divine sand. Before the attack even reached him, a strange wave of fatigue washed over him, and even his eyelids grew terribly heavy.
"A soul attack?" Yang Kai raised his brow and clicked his tongue. "How interesting."