Another few years passed, and the two finally traversed that near-ancient battlefield.
Wu Kuang finally couldn't hold back: "Boy, what exactly are you trying to do? We've been rushing for nearly ten years now—are you sure the No-Return Pass is in this direction?"
Over the past decade, the subordinate tree in his Small World had grown considerably, and the beings he'd taken in had gradually settled down. Yet they hadn't encountered a single member of the Ink Clan, and Wu Kuang's patience had run dry.
Yang Kai knew he could no longer keep up the deception, so he could only say: "We're not going to the No-Return Pass."
Wu Kuang flew into a rage: "You lied to me!"
Yang Kai ignored him, simply continuing on his own: "When heaven and earth first split apart and the primordial chaos divided, the first ray of light was born in this world, and with it came the deepest darkness..."
He proceeded to recount the many secrets he had once heard from Cang, speaking of them in a measured, unhurried manner.
Even though Wu Kuang had lived far longer than Yang Kai, he had never heard any of this before. For a moment, he was so captivated that he forgot his anger.
The ancient Sacred Spirits, the primordial Demon Race, the more recent Human Race...
These three races had ruled in succession, representing the turn of three great eras.
Though Yang Kai narrated in a plain tone, Wu Kuang felt as though the tapestry of those ages was unfolding before his very eyes. He finally understood the origin of Ink.
After Yang Kai finished, Wu Kuang was lost in thought for a long while before finally speaking: "As you say, if we wish to utterly eradicate the Ink Clan, we must find the first ray of light in all of creation?"
"Yes."
Wu Kuang frowned. "And how exactly do we go about finding this thing?"
"I already have some leads, but that's not something you need to worry about."
Wu Kuang thought to himself: I couldn't care less about worrying about it.
But then he heard Yang Kai ask: "Wu Kuang, the Heaven Devouring Battle Art—did you truly create it yourself?"
Wu Kuang snorted: "Of course it was created by this lord! Under the vast heavens, could there possibly be anyone who could have taught this lord such a technique?"
Yang Kai shook his head. "The Star Boundary is situated in a remote corner of the Three Thousand Worlds. Martial arts there have always been feeble. No matter how brilliantly talented you may be, Wu Kuang, without exposure to the grandeur of the outside world, how could you possibly have created a peerless art like the Heaven Devouring Battle Art? Have you never wondered why this technique can still help you rapidly increase your cultivation, even to this day?"
In the earliest days, the strongest beings in the Star Boundary were merely Great Emperors. If the Heaven Devouring Battle Art was at the level of a Great Emperor, that could be understood—it wouldn't have exceeded the bounds of the Star Boundary's martial arts. But this technique continued to provide tremendous assistance even after Wu Kuang advanced to Open Heaven, and that was something rather abnormal.
This time, Wu Kuang didn't persist in his stubbornness. He merely frowned: "What are you trying to say?"
Yang Kai replied: "I believe this technique was not created by you alone—or rather, perhaps it was created by you, but... perhaps not by the you of this lifetime!"
Wu Kuang's mind shook violently. He stared deeply at Yang Kai, a dangerous light flickering in his eyes.
Yang Kai was entirely unperturbed.
A long moment passed before Wu Kuang managed to suppress the turmoil in his heart. Yang Kai had seen straight through the greatest secret of his life, and it had truly shaken him.
After a good while, Wu Kuang finally said: "You're right. The Heaven Devouring Battle Art may not have been created by me. When I was young, I would frequently comprehend fragments of techniques in my dreams, and those became the foundation of the Heaven Devouring Battle Art. After cultivating this art, my power grew with each passing day. Only after achieving the status of Great Emperor was the technique finally perfected!"
Wu Kuang had never been without questions about why he was able to comprehend such a peerless art in his dreams. It was precisely through this technique that he had been able to become a Great Emperor.
In his era, he had been a supreme existence.
In the Battle of the Emperors in the Shattered Star Sea, he had slain five Great Emperors single-handedly, relying on the sheer power of the Heaven Devouring Battle Art.
Over the many years since, as his cultivation advanced, he had occasionally glimpsed images of things he had never personally experienced. He harbored a faint suspicion that his origins might be far from ordinary.
The concept of past and future lives was something Wu Kuang had encountered before. He had naturally wondered whether he might be the reincarnation of some powerful being, though he had no proof.
He had not expected Yang Kai to lay it bare so directly.
"Do you know something?" Wu Kuang asked in a grave voice.
Yang Kai said nothing, continuing to lead the way.
Wu Kuang hesitated, then dropped the matter. He knew that when the time came, Yang Kai would tell him. If now was not that time, then pressing further would serve no purpose.
Half a year slipped by in a blur before Yang Kai finally came to a halt. Wu Kuang promptly stopped as well.
He was about to ask why, when a sudden awareness seized him. He looked up, and his pupils contracted sharply.
Before them stretched a vast expanse of void, strewn with the wreckage of human warships and littered with the severed limbs and shredded flesh of countless Ink Clan members.
Wu Kuang even spotted a colossal, towering fortress—though it too had been torn apart by some immense force, split into several pieces!
This was a battlefield.