Martial Peak

Wu Kuang burst into laughter, "We haven't met for years, but you've become more arrogant and confident. It seems that you've grown stronger."

Yang Kai straightened up and refuted, "I've always been confident."

Presently, Heaven Devouring Great Emperor, who was touted to be the evilest person in history, appeared to be a mild-tempered old man. Even though he was repeatedly offended by Yang Kai, he didn't seem to have the intention of flaring up. With a faint smile, he simply said, "Why don't we just talk it out? The discussion will lead to nowhere if you're so aggressively defensive. Don't you agree?"

Hearing that, Yang Kai decided to suppress his anger. Even though he still appeared furious, he managed to calm down internally as he said impassively, "What are you trying to achieve?"

Wu Kuang waved his hand across the table, after which the board and stones turned into points of light and contorted into a nebula before it shot up into the sky and became fixed on one spot. Then, a tea set appeared on the table as he looked smilingly at Mei Jiu'er, who was behind Yang Kai, and asked, "Little girl, do you know how to prepare a pot of tea?"

Mei Jiu'er wasn't sure if she should reply to him as she took a look at Yang Kai. Seeing that Yang Kai didn't object to it, she nodded, "Yes, Junior knows a little about it."

Even though she knew that the old man before her eyes was a terrible person, she was equally aware that he was a top Master. Regardless of his temperament, she had to show appropriate respect.

"Please," Wu Kuang extended his hand to motion for her to help with preparing the tea.

Mei Jiu'er took one more look at Yang Kai, and upon seeing that he nodded, she walked up to the table and respectfully fell on her knees before she meticulously made the tea.

Wu Kuang observed her for a bit and concluded that she indeed knew how to prepare tea. Instead of knowing just a little, she seemed to be an expert in this field; thus, he smiled and nodded.

Following that, he turned to Yang Kai and said, "This King is indeed up to something, and my plan has something to do with the happiness of the people and the life or death of the Star Boundary… Look, this King is telling you about his plan, but you don't seem to believe me at all. What should I do?"

"Go on!" Yang Kai pointed his chin at him.

"Good, I've finished speaking." Wu Kuang grinned, "That's it."

"Do you think I'll believe you?" Yang Kai shot him a look.

Wu Kuang shook his head and said, "Of course, you won't." He paused for a moment, "However, even if you don't believe me, you should trust old Duan. After the war in the Shattered Star Sea, Duan Hong Chen and my Soul intertwined with one another in the same body. It isn't as simple as you think to have two Souls in the same body. It can be said that, if we're willing to do it, we can open up our minds and share each other's secrets. I can't tell you what I'm trying to do in detail. Your cultivation is still too low, so it'll only do more harm than good to you. Nevertheless, Duan Hong Chen is aware of it, and he's agreed to it."

Yang Kai furrowed his brows. Just like what Wu Kuang had said, he didn't believe an old thief like him; however, if Duan Hong Chen was also supportive of this idea, he had to give it due consideration.

In the past, in order to kill a dangerous person like Wu Kuang, Bustling World Great Emperor had crippled his own cultivation over and over again just so he could return to the Dao Source Realm. Then, he repeatedly snuck into the Shattered Star Sea to look for Wu Kuang. Duan Hong Chen was titled as the Bustling World Great Emperor. He travelled around this bustling world and he loved it from the bottom of his heart, which was why he was willing to protect this world that he dearly treasured.

If what Wu Kuang was doing was harmful to the Star Boundary, there was no way Duan Hong Chen would have agreed to cooperate.

Then, Yang Kai looked into Wu Kuang's eyes as though he was trying to see through his mind and get to the deepest part of his soul. After that, he grimly said, "Senior, is that true?"

Naturally, he was talking to Duan Hong Chen instead of Wu Kuang.

This time, instead of replying to Yang Kai through the body he was in, Duan Hong Chen directly spoke to him via Divine Sense, a tinge of helplessness in his voice, "Even though I'm not willing to admit it, what this old ghost has said is true; otherwise, I wouldn't have allowed him to make such a fuss. This old fart was more powerful than all of us in the past, so he knows things that we don't. As for the war in the Shattered Star Sea, let's just say that our perspectives differed too greatly to come to an agreement." He sighed.

Upon hearing that, Yang Kai was shocked not because Duan Hong Chen had confirmed Wu Kuang's statement, but because Bustling World Great Emperor sounded heartbroken by the outcome of the war in the Shattered Star Sea.

The war in the Shattered Star Sea was an epic battle waged by the Great Emperors to destroy a malevolent evil like Wu Kuang. During the battle, four Great Emperors fell, and Wu Kuang's body was broken, forcing him to fake his own death to escape.

Supposedly, there wasn't any problem with the war. Even though four Great Emperors had lost their lives, which was an immense loss for the Star Boundary at the time, they managed to remove a tumour like Heaven Devouring Great Emperor. The Great Emperors had lost their lives for a grand cause, so they should be able to rest in peace.

However, judging from what Duan Hong Chen had said, it seemed to Yang Kai as if the former was saying that the war in the Shattered Star Sea was a mistake. In that case, the fallen Great Emperors were killed for no reason at all.

Duan Hong Chen went on to say, "You don't have to worry. I'll monitor him and make sure that he doesn't cross the line. Even though he has refined these Star Fields, he hasn't harmed any of their lives or destroyed any Stars. He has just made use of the Ancestral Domain as the origin and made the other Star Fields merge with it."

Yang Kai took a deep breath to suppress his undulating feelings, then he asked with a scowl, "What is it that will harm the Star Boundary's safety?"

Duan Hong Chen replied, "This is indeed a thorny issue. It's pointless to tell you anything now, so you should stop asking. It'll indeed do more harm than good to you. When the time comes, you'll naturally find out about it."

If Wu Kuang had said it to him, Yang Kai would've snorted and argued back; however, since it was Duan Hong Chen who had said so, he reckoned that he should stop asking despite the fact that he was eager to find out more.

Following that, he nodded gently and asked, "Does he have to devour every single Lower Star Field and integrate them with the Ancestral Domain?"

Duan Hong Chen replied, "You're fairly strong now, so I'm sure you can see that the Ancestral Domain has gone through some changes. The old fart isn't wrong to say that it is a Great World. According to our estimation, if we manage to integrate all the Lower Star Fields, the Ancestral Domain will indeed become a Great World. By then, the Ancestral Domain will become a Plane that is an equal match for the Star Boundary. You have to understand that every single Lower Star Field was separated from the Ancestral Domain in the past. What we're doing is just amalgamating them, returning them to their original state. It would be best if we could integrate all the Star Fields as no one can tell what the outcome will be if one or two are missing."

After pondering on it for a while, Yang Kai asked, "What will the consequences be if my Star Field is integrated?"

"The most immediate result is that you'll no longer be the Star Field Master, but other aspects will not be affected. After the integration, all the living creatures will go about their daily lives as usual, and they won't be affected one bit. It can even be said that they'll benefit from it. If the Ancestral Domain becomes a Great World, all the Star Fields that have been integrated will reap the rewards as well."

Yang Kai said with a frown, "Before coming back, someone told me that the Star Boundary and the Lower Star Fields are like a tree. The Star Boundary is like the tree crown while the Lower Star Fields are like the roots. If Wu Kuang removes all the roots, won't it affect the tree crown, the Star Boundary?"

"Tree crown and roots?" Duan Hong Chen sounded surprised, "This analogy is pretty interesting. It's not wrong per se, but it's not completely right either. The relationship between the Star Boundary and the Lower Star Fields are indeed like that of a tree crown and roots, so after all the Star Fields are integrated, it'll slightly affect the Star Boundary. The biggest change we'll see is that, after the cultivators in the Star Fields reach a certain realm and free themselves of the World Principles' chains, they'll head to the Ancestral Domain instead of the Star Boundary. As for the Star Boundary, it has become mature, and all the lives are living and reproducing on their own. Even without the roots, it will never die."

Yang Kai knitted his brows, "Senior, it seems that you've sided with Wu Kuang now."

In the past, in order to destroy Wu Kuang's Soul in the Shattered Star Sea, Duan Hong Chen was even willing to perish together with him. In his eyes, Wu Kuang was no different from a ferocious beast. Even though he was saved by Yang Kai in the end, Duan Hong Chen still tried his best to solve his own problems. However, Yang Kai had never expected that when they met again, Duan Hong Chen would side with Wu Kuang and even speak up for him.

This prompted Yang Kai to wonder whether it was Duan Hong Chen's true intention or he had been tricked by Wu Kuang. Perhaps Wu Kuang had even done something to him.

"I'm not deaf yet, and I'm much older than you are, so will you please show some respect and stop calling me by name? It's unpleasant to the ears," Wu Kuang stared at Yang Kai and said.

Yang Kai rolled his eyes, "What do you think I should call you, then? Senior?"

Wu Kuang replied with a smile, "This King knows you have some biases against me. In fact, anyone who happens to know my name in this world has the same kind of bias. When this King became famous, all of your forefathers hadn't even been born yet! Tell me, what has this King done that has actually harmed your interests? All of you are terrified simply because of some ancient rumours about me. How many of you in the Star Boundary actually understand who this King really is?"

Yang Kai snorted, "Are you saying that you had some good reasons for what you had done in the past?"

Wu Kuang chuckled, "Naturally not! This King killed those people and destroyed those Star Fields, which is why they were so they're resentful of me! However… everything happens for a reason, and life is not as simple as you believe it to be. So far, only Duan Hong Chen understands the secrets behind this King's actions. Even other Great Emperors are not aware of this." He paused for a moment, "Forget it. Let's drink some tea first."

Presently, Mei Jiu'er was finished preparing the tea and poured two cups for Wu Kuang and Yang Kai, then she obediently knelt on the side.

Yang Kai took a look at her and pushed his own cup towards her.

A shocked Mei Jiu'er quickly waved her hands, "Many thanks for your consideration, Senior. Junior really appreciates it, but…" The Star Field Master and a top Master even the Star Field Master had to call 'Senior' were right in front of her, so she didn't dare to drink tea before them. She was already honoured to be able to serve them, and she knew that there were lines she shouldn't cross.

"Just drink it! It's good for you!" Yang Kai directly stuffed the cup into her hands. Even though he hadn't tasted it, by just taking a whiff of the aroma he could tell that it was no ordinary tea. He was already a High-Rank Demon King though, so this tea probably wasn't useful to him at all; however, Mei Jiu'er was only a First-Order Origin King, so it was definitely an opportunity for her, one she shouldn't miss.