In a canyon not far from Lingxiao Palace within the Star Boundary of Lingxiao Domain, a great river surged through the void, its ends joined together to form a perfect circle.
Within that river, ten thousand Daos converged and fused, giving rise to infinite mysteries.
Though the commotion here was not especially great, it quickly drew a number of people.
The first to arrive was Zhan Wuhen, the Iron Blood Great Emperor, followed swiftly by Mo Huang, the Beast Martial Great Emperor. Yao Jun, the Specter Great Emperor, Duan Hongchen, the Red Dust Great Emperor, and Hua Linglong, the Flower Shadow Great Emperor, appeared one after another.
There were no major battles on the front lines anymore. The Ink Race army had been shattered, and only scattered stragglers remained, fleeing and hiding here and there. As a result, the Great Emperors who hailed from the Star Boundary had all returned to recuperate.
Every Great Emperor was a powerhouse acknowledged by the Heavenly Dao of the Star Boundary. While within the Star Boundary itself, no disturbance in the world could escape their perception.
Having sensed what was happening here, they had all come.
The moment these few settled into position, two more figures arrived together, offering bows of greeting to the assembled Great Emperors.
These two latecomers were, notably, Great Emperors newly born in the Star Boundary in recent years.
Given the current Heavenly Dao ceiling of the Star Boundary, it could now support as many as fourteen Great Emperors—four more than the original ten. This was undoubtedly the contribution of the subsidiary tree of the World Tree, its nourishment allowing more Great Emperor thrones to manifest. The increase in Great Emperors, coupled with the deaths of Tianshu and Bingyu in battle, had also created opportunities for a new generation to rise.
Of the fourteen Great Emperors, some were still away campaigning beyond the borders, others were in seclusion cultivating. Those who had detected the disturbance had already gathered here.
These two newcomers bore the titles Chixiao and Feng Lei. Both had been raised as Disciples within Blessed Lands and Cave Heavens, though in terms of origin, they too were native-born Star Boundary cultivators.
Neither had been cultivating for long, so both were only Seventh-Order Open Heaven. Yet Zhan Wuhen and the others showed not the slightest hint of looking down on the pair—for both had advanced directly to the Seventh-Order, meaning they had the potential to reach the Ninth-Order in the future.
Moreover, with the identity of Star Boundary Great Emperor bolstering them, their growth would inevitably far outpace ordinary cultivators. Though the two had only broken through to the Seventh-Order a few centuries ago, both were already nearing the peak of that realm. It would not be many more years before they could advance to the Eighth-Order.
Now, with so many Star Boundary Great Emperors assembled here, the two newcomers gazed in awe at the great river. Chixiao broke the silence with a question: "What is that Lord doing?"
Feng Lei shared the same curiosity. They knew of Yang Kai, but had never met him face to face. This senior whose dragon-like presence revealed only its head and never its tail had left behind far too many legends. Peering over, they saw the river brimming and seething with the power of the Dao. Every cresting wave was a manifestation of Dao power, a sight that left onlookers breathless and struck them with sudden flashes of insight.
Duan Hongchen's expression turned grave, and he shook his head. "I don't know!"
Chixiao was startled. If even these well-traveled seniors couldn't say what was happening, then what was going on over there must be extraordinary indeed.
Yao Jun murmured in a low, distant voice, "I don't know what he's doing either, but it's clearly a grand undertaking."
Zhan Wuhen shot him a glance that plainly said: You're stating the obvious.
"Just watch," Mo Huang said, arms folded across his chest, observing in silence.
No one spoke.
The disturbance over there grew ever greater. The concentration of Dao power was becoming visibly denser. In addition to the Dao power Yang Kai was circulating himself, the others could see him drawing out what looked like slender streams from some unknown source, pouring them into the River of Space-Time.
At first, the onlookers paid little attention. But once they got a clear look at those streams, every one of them was stunned beyond words. Those stream-like things were themselves manifestations of the power of the Dao—each one impossibly pure and concentrated.
A question arose unbidden in everyone's mind: How could a single person wield so many different Daos, and have cultivated every one of them to such a formidable level?
Half an hour passed. As stream after stream was fed in, the River of Space-Time itself began to tremble. Just as the others worried that Yang Kai might be reaching his limit, a thunderous shout rang out from across the way: "Open!"
In the next instant, the void lurched and warped. The circular region enclosed by the River of Space-Time collapsed inward, and a spinning vortex materialized. The myriad streams of Dao power within the river poured into the vortex, and the near-boiling river gradually subsided, growing calm and still.
"A Domain Gate?" Zhan Wuhen raised an eyebrow.
It was no wonder he said that—at first glance, the vortex spinning in the void looked no different from a Domain Gate.
Duan Hongchen shook his head. "It doesn't seem to be one. Don't forget about Lingxiao Palace's three secret realms."
Lingxiao Palace contained three secret realms, specially forged by Yang Kai in years past. They were the Time Secret Realm, the Space Secret Realm, and the Spear Dao Secret Realm, each bearing his extensive insights and accomplishments in those three Daos.
Because more and more Disciples from his Dao Academy were being brought out to advance to the Open Heaven Realm, and some of them had inherited his three primary Daos, Yang Kai had crafted the corresponding secret realms within Lingxiao Palace so that the Disciples could enter them for training and tempering.