What caught Shi Zheng slightly off guard was that after Yang Kai's formidable shout, nothing followed. There was no sign of his aura surging upward, and the aura he emitted remained at the Sixth Order.
The corner of Yang Kai's eye twitched.
This was somewhat awkward…
Though he could borrow the power of heaven and earth from the Star Boundary as long as he was within the Celestial Lingering Domain—temporarily granting him Seventh-Order Open Heaven strength—this location was considerably far from the Star Boundary. His journey here had taken the better part of half a day.
The power of the Star Boundary could indeed be drawn upon. Yang Kai could clearly sense the world's immense power churning into a tidal wave, rushing toward him from the Star Boundary's direction.
But at such a distance, it always took some time!
With a powerful enemy before him, there was no time to wait. By the time the Star Boundary's power arrived, the two of them would likely have already determined a victor.
Though Shi Zheng didn't know exactly what was happening, he had his suspicions. With a violent tremor of his body, a surging wave of world might erupted from him, sealing heaven and locking earth, severing the connection between Yang Kai and the Star Boundary.
The vast torrent of the Star Boundary's world power that had been surging toward Yang Kai's location lost its target, turned back, and rumbled its way into the Star Boundary once more.
"Break!" Yang Kai bellowed, activating the Space Laws. The Azure Dragon Spear thrust forward with savage force, and in a single strike, it blasted a gap in the sealed space.
"Borrow the power of heaven and earth with me!" Yang Kai held the long spear horizontally before him and shouted.
The Star Boundary, which had just quieted down, saw its world power surge once more, rushing like a tide toward Yang Kai's position.
But in the very next instant, Shi Zheng had already closed the distance, unleashing wave after wave of divine abilities and secret techniques in a relentless barrage that sent Yang Kai scrambling in retreat.
Worse still, the gap that had been blasted open was mended once more by Shi Zheng's technique, severing Yang Kai's connection to the Star Boundary yet again.
The Star Boundary fell silent once more!
Yang Kai's eyes nearly split with fury. He pushed the Space Laws to their absolute limit, pouring everything he had into breaking open this patch of heaven and earth a second time.
"Borrow the power of heaven and earth with me!"
Shi Zheng would never give him the chance. Channeling his world might, he transformed the vast expanse of the void into a cage.
Within the Star Boundary, inside one Dojo after another, numerous Upper-Order Open Heaven cultivators frowned deeply, and some even shot into the sky, hovering in the void as they observed the disturbances.
The fluctuations of the Star Boundary's world power were unmistakable—there was no way they could fail to notice. What was more, the disturbances had occurred several times now, far too obvious to ignore.
At first they were puzzled, wondering what had happened within the Star Boundary. But after a moment's reflection, they finally realized: a Star Boundary Great Emperor was borrowing the power of heaven and earth!
None of them had personally witnessed Yang Kai's feat of borrowing the world's power all those years ago, but they had certainly heard of it.
Having come to understand this, they couldn't help but wonder—which Great Emperor of the Star Boundary was doing this? Was this some sort of joke, or what?
Unlike those Upper-Order Open Heaven cultivators, the Great Emperors themselves were streaming from their places of seclusion, gathering together.
Apart from Iron Blood and Beast Martial, who were guarding the Domain Gate of the new Great Domain, and Red Dust, who was stationed at the Celestial Lingering Star City, the remaining five—Ghost, Flowery Shadow, Ice Feather, Wondrous Pill, and Celestial Pivot—had all been roused.
They exchanged glances, and Ghost frowned. "Where is Yang Kai?"
All of them were here, so the Star Boundary's anomaly couldn't be their doing. That left only one possibility: Yang Kai was borrowing the Star Boundary's power of heaven and earth, but for some reason he'd been interrupted, hence the repeated attempts.
All of them shook their heads.
Ever since discovering that they could directly refine and absorb the Star Boundary's world power to bolster the foundation of their Minor Worlds, they had been in seclusion the entire time, paying no attention to outside affairs. If not for the sheer magnitude of today's commotion, they wouldn't have come out to investigate.
Who knew where Yang Kai was?
Hua Qingsi hurried over and, seeing that all five had emerged from seclusion, immediately said, "The Sect Master may be in danger!"
"What happened?" Ghost Great Emperor Yaojun asked in a solemn voice.
Hua Qingsi hastily recounted how Shi Zheng had invited Yang Kai for a private meeting.
All five frowned upon hearing this.
Yaojun said, "In that case, Yang Kai is likely in real danger. Otherwise, he wouldn't need to borrow the Star Boundary's power. There's no time to lose—let's go support him immediately!"
All of them nodded and were about to shoot into the sky when a voice suddenly interjected: "Allow me to go."
They turned to look and saw Yu Changdao arriving in a flash. He had clearly heard everything they'd just said. After all, he was a Seventh-Order Open Heaven cultivator who had been living in the Celestial Lingering Palace all along—it would have been trivially easy for him to pick up on any situation if he so wished.
Seeing the guarded looks on the Great Emperors' faces, Yu Changdao said, "This matter has nothing to do with the Cave Heavens and Blessing Lands. The specifics still require careful investigation. When I return, I will give you all an explanation."
Yang Kai had gone to meet Shi Zheng before all these complications arose, so the Great Emperors naturally harbored suspicions—whether the Cave Heavens and Blessing Lands had secretly orchestrated something. Now, seeing Yu Changdao appear, they were immediately on their guard.
There was no time to spare. Yu Changdao knew he couldn't explain himself for the moment, so rather than waste his breath, he simply gave them a nod and shot into the sky.
It was unclear whether he had contacted other Upper-Order Open Heaven cultivators beforehand, but in his wake, one aura after another departed in succession.
In the blink of an eye, forty or fifty figures transformed into streaks of light, moving in a vast, imposing procession.
Yang Kai's direction was obvious—all they had to do was follow the flow of the Star Boundary's world power.