Since Yang Kai had first set foot on the path of cultivation, he had traveled far and wide and seen a great many things. The Devouring Heaven Battle Art was undoubtedly the most powerful technique he had ever encountered.
After all, it was deduced by one of the Martial Ancestors. The profound arts treasured within blessed cave-heavens simply could not compare.
Of course, the drawbacks of this technique were equally obvious. It was proclaimed to devour all things, carrying the bold ambition of a sea that accepts all rivers. But a warrior's physical body was no ocean, and the spiritual treasures it consumed were no streams.
Recklessly devouring external power for one's own use could indeed grant tremendous strength in a short time, but the accumulation of all manner of different powers within one body would inevitably affect one's temperament. This technique was extremely prone to causing Qi Deviation.
That fellow Wu Kuang possessed the Blemishless Golden Lotus, which could eliminate such influences—that was why he could safely cultivate the Devouring Heaven Battle Art. No one else could. Throughout all of history, there had been only one Devouring Heaven Great Emperor.
The ones truly suited to cultivating this technique were the Stone Puppet Clan. The Stone Puppet Clan possessed a unique constitution with an innate ability to purify impurities. Cultivating this technique was a perfect match.
The dharma body that Yang Kai had reclaimed from the Demon Domain had once cultivated the Devouring Heaven Battle Art.
Compared to the Devouring Heaven Battle Art, the Great Evolution Indestructible Blood Illumination Scripture might not have had as many drawbacks, but its limitations were far greater. This heterodox technique consumed essence blood.
Yang Kai took the strengths of both techniques, integrated them, and deduced the Devouring Heaven Blood Illumination Scripture. In terms of profundity alone, this method might not match either the Devouring Heaven Battle Art or the Great Evolution Indestructible Blood Illumination Scripture individually, but it was absolutely the most suitable for his beast body.
The growth of the Monster Race was always accompanied by bloodshed and carnage. After a great battle, the victors would typically consume the flesh, blood, and inner cores of the defeated.
This consumption was instinct, and Yang Kai had merely transformed this instinct into a supernatural ability, vastly accelerating the growth of his beast body.
Because it only consumed and refined the flesh, blood, and inner cores of demon beasts, the drawbacks were far less severe than those of the Devouring Heaven Battle Art. The power of flesh, blood, and inner cores still fell within the scope of the Monster Race. With a demon beast's physical body, even without the Blemishless Golden Lotus, it could purify the incoming impurities and refine all the power for its own use.
The methods of the Blood Illumination Scripture could similarly strengthen this process of refinement and consumption.
The results were remarkable.
In a mere five hundred years, the beast body had already advanced to the rank of Monster Emperor and even achieved the status of Great Emperor.
The only thing Yang Kai found regrettable was that the beast body would probably no longer be able to slaughter other demon beasts at will and consume their inner cores and flesh essence.
After all, it was now a Great Emperor. The entire Myriad Monster World was its domain, and all demon beasts depended on its breath. If it were to go on a killing spree, it would violate the harmony of heaven and earth, and might even be abandoned by the Heavenly Dao of the Myriad Monster World.
But it no longer really needed this method to enhance its power. There were few Monster Emperors in the Myriad Monster World. Even if it killed them all, it wouldn't bring it much growth.
As the sole Great Emperor of the Myriad Monster World, it could emulate Zhan Wuhen and the others, borrowing the power of heaven and earth for cultivation. It could be said that the entire Myriad Monster World's power was available for its use, with no one else sharing in it. Unless a second Great Emperor emerged, it would certainly advance to the sixth, seventh, and eighth ranks at tremendous speed.
Its growth rate would surely be much faster than Zhan Wuhen and the others'.
The human body's small universe contained a branch of the World Tree. The beast body, having achieved the status of Great Emperor, had no small universe, but it could still cultivate by borrowing the power of the branch. The future of both avatars was promising.
Time waited for no one. Although the situation between the Human Race and the Ink Race currently maintained a balance, the original agreement stipulated that beyond the six great domains that remained untouched, the eighth-rank experts and Domain Lords would not interfere in the fighting. But no one knew when this balance would break.
Calculating the time, it had been roughly a thousand years since the various Human Race armies had withdrawn from the Void Domain. Over these thousand years, the Human Race had produced many talented individuals—and the Ink Race was no exception.
Although Yang Kai had been in closed cultivation within the World Tree, that did not mean he was deaf to the outside world. He was the Great Emperor of the Star Boundary. In a single thought, nothing within the entire Star Boundary could escape his notice.
Many reports had been sent back from the front lines. Over the years, the Human Race had produced many rising stars who shone brilliantly on various battlefields. There were also highly anticipated Human Race juniors who fell on the battlefield, their bodies never to be found.
On the Ink Race side, a new generation of Ink Race Domain Lords had already been born. Though these Domain Lords were not as powerful as the primordial ones, they represented limitless possibility—they were beings who could potentially advance to the rank of King Lord.
Given the territory and resources the Ink Race currently controlled, as long as they were willing, pouring all their resources into it would certainly allow them to cultivate quite a few King Lords.
Both races were accumulating strength for the future. The current balance was nothing more than an illusion. Once one side had accumulated enough power to annihilate the other, the final battle would certainly begin.
How many years would that take? Two thousand? Three thousand? No one knew.
Yang Kai only knew that time was truly running out.
Judging by the accumulation of strength on both sides, the Human Race did not hold a significant advantage. Many promising talents on the Human Race side were indeed promoted directly to the sixth or seventh rank in one leap, saving enormous amounts of cultivation time. But growing from the sixth or seventh rank to the eighth or ninth rank required vast amounts of time to mature.
The Ink Race, on the other hand, cultivated through the Ink Nests. Though they started from zero, their growth rate was far faster than the Human Race's.
It was foreseeable that when the Human Race produced a new ninth-rank expert, the Ink Race would likely begin producing King Lords as well.