So that was it! He had been overlooking his greatest advantage, his greatest foundation all along!
"The Heavenly Dao possesses a spirit!" Yang Kai lowered his head, his voice low and deep, the long hair hanging over his forehead casting a heavy shadow. "You want the Star Boundary? Have you asked the Star Boundary's Heavenly Dao about it?"
Zuo Quanhui, seated in the grand hall of the Heavenly Sword Palace, sneered: "Once I take that place, I will be the Heavenly Dao!"
Yang Kai slowly shook his head: "I'm afraid that's going to disappoint you!"
Zuo Quanhui's expression darkened, and a sudden sense of foreboding crept over him — a feeling that came from nowhere, as though something terrible was about to happen.
Yang Kai gripped his spear in one hand, while the other formed a series of hand seals. A low murmur escaped his lips, like a whisper in a dream: "Borrowing the power of Heaven and Earth together with me!"
Hummm...
The void itself seemed to tremble ever so slightly in that instant, and everything came to a standstill.
The next moment, within the Star Boundary, the World Tree — already a thousand zhang tall — swayed wildly. Its colossal canopy rustled with a tremendous roar, and a beam of emerald light shot out from the Star Boundary, striking Yang Kai dead on.
Yang Kai's body did not move, but his aura — which had grown exceedingly weak from overexhaustion — began climbing at a visible speed, rising, rising, and rising still! His turbulent Small Universe calmed down into a tranquility it had never known before, and its foundation strengthened rapidly.
Terror-stricken pressure swept outward in all directions, and the void shuddered without cease.
Inside the Heavenly Sword Palace, the numerous Open Heaven cultivators of the Heavenly Sword Alliance stared blankly. In the void, the thousand-plus Open Heaven cultivators of Void Land wore equally astonished expressions.
In the span of a single breath, Yang Kai's aura had climbed to the absolute pinnacle of his life, even surpassing his previous peak. Though he had not yet reached the Seventh Order, he was not far off.
Zuo Quanhui's eyelids twitched as he stared at the scene in disbelief.
"So he borrows the power of Heaven and Earth — so that's how it is!" Zhan Wuhen's eyes lit up with sudden comprehension, and the Great Emperors all grasped the situation in the same instant.
Yang Kai was borrowing the Star Boundary's power! Any Great Emperor who had been acknowledged by the Heavenly Dao of a World could draw upon the strength of their World of origin — it was simply that the extent of what Yang Kai borrowed this time was beyond imagination!
Under normal circumstances, there was an immense, almost insurmountable gap between the Emperor Realm and the Open Heaven Realm. Any Open Heaven cultivator, even the lowest-grade Inferior Open Heaven, could effortlessly slay an Emperor Realm expert.
But in certain times, in certain specific circumstances, an Emperor Realm cultivator could unleash the power of an Inferior Open Heaven!
Just as the many Great Emperors had once battled the Great Demon God!
The Great Demon God had unquestionably possessed the strength of an Open Heaven cultivator back then, yet he was ultimately slain by the combined efforts of the Great Emperors. The fundamental reason was that the Great Emperors had borrowed the power of Heaven and Earth from the Star Boundary, allowing them to wield strength sufficient to kill the Great Demon God.
Back then, the Star Boundary had been shattered and its people devastated, yet it still afforded the Great Emperors enough power to fight the Great Demon God head-on. Now, with the Star Boundary nourished and restored by the World Tree, its foundation had reached unprecedented heights. The power of Heaven and Earth that Yang Kai borrowed now was simply incomparable to what had been available back then.
At this moment, it was as though the entire might of the Star Boundary itself stood behind him, providing an inexhaustible stream of support.
Zuo Quanhui was a Seventh-Order Open Heaven cultivator with vast experience — he was not ignorant of the workings within a World. It was just that under ordinary circumstances, even a Sixth-Order Open Heaven like Yang Kai drawing upon the power of his World of origin would gain only marginal help.
Better than nothing, at best!
But the Star Boundary was fundamentally different from an average World. Thanks to the World Tree's nourishment, its foundation was already extraordinarily rich. On top of that, after this prolonged and fierce battle, the World Tree had devoured the Worldforce of all the Open Heaven cultivators who had fallen on both sides, further bolstering the Star Boundary's strength.
The Heavenly Dao possessed a spirit. Yang Kai had fought desperately near the Star Boundary, refusing to retreat, protecting the Star Boundary's safety. The Star Boundary's Heavenly Dao naturally perceived this. That sensing that had long lingered in Yang Kai's heart was the Star Boundary's Heavenly Dao making its intention known.
Yang Kai had understood it a bit late, but in the end, it was still in time.
"Zuo Quanhui, making trouble for my Star Boundary in this Grand Domain is the gravest mistake you have ever made!" Worldforce surged through every inch of Yang Kai's body, and he felt an indescribable power surging through his flesh and blood. Having borrowed the Star Boundary's power, he had not only fully recovered — his strength was now only a single step away from the Seventh Order.
"You're still only a Sixth Order — how dare you speak such brazen words! Come back and face me once you've advanced to the Seventh Order!" Zuo Quanhui was furious. As his words fell, the Heavenly Sword Palace unleashed another volley of sword light, and a divine ability personally launched by Zuo Quanhui hurtled straight toward Yang Kai.
Yang Kai raised his spear to block. Though he was driven back ten thousand li, he was far from the desperate state he had been in before.
The gap in strength between him and Zuo Quanhui had been drastically narrowed.
Everyone saw this, and morale among Void Land's forces surged. They attacked in unison, intercepting the Heavenly Sword Palace's offensive.
The Great Emperors exchanged glances. Without a single word spoken, they all read the same thought in each other's eyes.
"Kid Yang, we're leaving this to you!" the Iron Blood Great Emperor suddenly transmitted his voice.
Yang Kai turned his head in surprise, just in time to see the Iron Blood Great Emperor's figure vanish from where he stood. Looking to the others, he found that Red Dust, Beast Martial, Phantom Soul, Flower Shadow, Ice Feather, and the rest had likewise disappeared without warning. Before departing, each of them had cast him a look filled with earnest expectation.
Yang Kai understood instantly and let out a low roar: "Rest assured, everyone — I will slay this old dog before he ever reaches our doorstep!"
Within the Star Boundary, atop the World Tree, one figure after another materialized out of thin air — the very Great Emperors who had vanished from the battlefield moments ago.