Gong Lian, whom Ouyang Lie still called "kid," had long since broken through to the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm. His cultivation was roughly on par with Ouyang Lie's, but master and disciple was a bond that transcended rank. Even as a Ninth-Order, Gong Lian couldn't act up in front of his teacher, and he nodded repeatedly: "Master speaks truly!"
Ouyang Lie laughed even more heartily.
Several of the other newly ascended Ninth-Orders chuckled along. They all knew Ouyang Lie loved to boast, so they humored him willingly.
Every one of them had witnessed the might of a Pseudo King Master. That was not something a single Eighth-Order Open Heaven could hope to stand against — not without a formation to back them up. But back when the human race had fewer Eighth-Orders, Ouyang Lie had indeed fought a Pseudo King Master solo. He'd been the one beaten half to death, of course, but even so, managing to contend alone against a Pseudo King Master was an extraordinary feat.
The boisterous great hall fell silent at a certain moment. Even the boastful tongues went quiet, and every eye turned upward.
At the head of the hall, a Ninth-Order Open Heaven with a feather fan in hand and hair streaked with grey smiled faintly as his gaze swept over the assembly. "A thousand years apart, and you all look as impressive as ever. Hmm, a few new faces too — good."
Everyone bowed in unison: "Greetings, Marshal Mi."
The newcomer was Mi Jinglun. Though the Human Race Expeditionary Force and the great legions had long since disbanded, the title "Marshal Mi" had endured. In terms of raw cultivation, Mi Jinglun might not have been the strongest among all the Ninth-Orders, but during the great wars against the Mo Race, the role he had played surpassed that of any other Ninth-Order. He had been the supreme commander of humanity's entire army. Which battle had he not planned through sleepless nights and painstaking deliberation? Which battle had he not moved troops and generals with every drop of his energy?
He, Ouyang Lie, Xiang Shan, and Wei Junyang were warriors of the same generation, but standing together now, Mi Jinglun visibly appeared the most aged of them all. The sustained wars spanning thousands of years had consumed far too much of his vitality.
From his position at the head of the hall, Mi Jinglun returned the bow before speaking. "The Void Ceremony has come around once again. By my count, this makes the eighth time — and I trust everyone understands what this occasion signifies."
At those words, the expressions of everyone present turned solemn.
"For all this time, our memories have had gaps. In many crucial places, there are traces suggesting someone once existed, but neither we nor anyone else can recall who that person is. I don't know what state of mind led me to spearhead the compilation of that person's biography, but looking back now, it was without doubt the most correct decision of my life. Every sign points to the fact that that person truly existed, that the records in the biography are genuine and accurate. That person was humanity's greatest contributor in the war against the Mo Race!"
Unlike those warriors of lower cultivation, the Ninth-Orders present, though their memories were incomplete, could find every missing piece perfectly supplemented within Yang Kai's biography. So they could be certain: Yang Kai had existed, and the biography's records were no fabrication.
The root cause that had made them forget Yang Kai was none other than the mysterious Spacetime Silhouette Technique.
"A hero should never be forgotten — otherwise, humanity would be unworthy of its survival! Eight thousand years have passed, and now is the time for his return. The Void Ceremony exists precisely for this moment. My friends, the arrangements made all those years ago must now be activated. The time to witness the truth has come!"
Most people knew the Void Ceremony as a grand gathering for all of humanity, but they had no idea it was a contingency long since prepared by Mi Jinglun and the other Ninth-Orders.
When they had first set this plan in motion, they had perhaps not yet entirely forgotten Yang Kai. But by now, they truly remembered nothing about him. It didn't matter — so long as the contingency worked as intended.
"We await Marshal Mi's command!" The Ninth-Orders clasped their fists.
Mi Jinglun smiled gently. "Then let us see whether this is all nothing more than unfounded fantasy — or whether we have truly forgotten something!"
One by one, commands were issued, and the Ninth-Orders in the hall shot out through the doors and vanished, until only one remained.
This was the sole Ninth-Order among them who had been acknowledged as a Great Emperor by the Star Boundary — the only Great Emperor still living to have ascended to the Ninth-Order. Other Ninth-Order Great Emperors had emerged from the Star Boundary in the past, but they had fallen during the Expeditionary War.
The hall fell quiet as Mi Jinglun and the Great Emperor waited in silence.
More than ten days passed before Mi Jinglun suddenly opened his eyes and glanced at the Great Emperor. "The time has come."
The Great Emperor inclined his head slightly and slowly closed his own eyes. His consciousness unfurled outward, and in the next instant, his very being seemed to merge with the entirety of the Star Boundary.
At every settlement where humans gathered, the statues of Yang Kai that had stood for eight thousand years suddenly blazed with dazzling radiance, drawing countless gazes of wonder.
Then, from within those statues, voices arose — reciting the contents of Yang Kai's biography, word by word.
The recitation carried a strange and wondrous power that compelled all who heard it to stop in their tracks and listen. As the reading continued, a vast and stirring scroll seemed to unfurl before the eyes of every listener. Within it, a warrior named Yang Kai grew from weakness to strength, rising step by step to lead humanity against its greatest enemy.
It was not only the Star Boundary. Across the Myriad Beast Domain, in every realm where humanity survived, at every place where humans had gathered — the statues, activated by the Ninth-Orders' preparations, triggered the contingency that had lain dormant all these years.
In that moment, the sound of the recitation reached hundreds of millions of human ears simultaneously.
Once, twice, three times…
Gradually, people began to chant along with the voices rising from the statues. Almost everyone had read Yang Kai's biography at some point, and many scholars among them could recite it from memory. But what had always been treated as casual reading now seemed charged with a profound and solemn weight.
Hundreds of millions of humanity were chanting the name of the Void Emperor.
Meanwhile, in the distant void, on the battlefield where Yang Kai fought his final battle against the Mo, a palace drifted among the stars — and within it, a small group had gathered.
There were only a dozen or so of them, but aside from one middle-aged couple whose cultivation was unremarkable, every other person present was at minimum an Eighth-Order Open Heaven. Ninth-Orders were everywhere.
Those who had gathered here were none other than Yang Kai's closest kin.
His parents. His wives. His disciples. And Yang Xiao and Yang Xue…
They had been waiting here for a full eight thousand years. Xia Ningshang had originally remained behind at the Lingxiao Palace, for though her cultivation was nothing to scoff at, she had virtually no experience in actual combat — and she was a Grand Master Alchemist, so she had not been permitted to join the expedition.
After the army's return, Xia Ningshang had worked alongside Mi Jinglun to compile Yang Kai's biography, then immediately set out, bringing Yang Siye and Dong Suzhu to this place to join Su Yan and the others in their long vigil.
They had waited — and the waiting had lasted eight thousand years!