Chapter 2504
"Soul Emperor Artifact!" Wu Kuang exclaimed, his eyes narrowing as he stared numbly at the sabre held by Yang Kai.
Emperor Artifacts were all rare treasures, let alone a Soul Emperor Artifact. It was unlikely to find a treasure that attacked or defended the Soul even amongst a thousand Emperor Artifacts, so one could imagine how precious one was.
Wu Kuang did not expect that Yang Kai actually possessed a Soul Emperor Artifact; after all, he had hidden it somewhere in his Knowledge Sea where Wu Kuang had not found it earlier.
Wu Kuang felt slightly troubled now. Soul Emperor Artifacts were specialized in harming the Soul, and with the supplement of Yang Kai's rich and pure Spiritual Energy, it may actually be able to harm him.
Despite fear gripping his heart, Wu Kuang sneered with a contemptuous look, "A good treasure, but it's still not enough to kill this King."
Yang Kai looked solemn and swept his finger across the body of the sabre and its buzzing instantly stopped. Pointing the sabre at Wu Kuang, he shouted coldly, "This is the Soul Splitting Sabre. Wu Kuang, you are lucky to be able to die under this sword."
"Hahahaha!" Wu Kuang could not help bursting into loud laughter, amused by Yang Kai's blatant words, replying with a taunt, "Tsk tsk, this King won't deny that this Emperor Artifact might be able to threaten this King a bit, but boy, you still need to cultivate tens of thousands of years before you can dream of killing this King."
Yang Kai curled his lip, "Shall we test your theory then, Sir Heaven Devourer?"
As he spoke, he pushed his Spiritual Energy madly, causing the calm seawater below to stir up again and pour into the sabre. In an instant, the Soul Splitting Sabre released a dazzling light.
This was not the end though as Yang Kai performed a hand seal and slapped the Soul Splitting Sabre.
A magnificent aura and rich murderous intent permeated the air, one so thick it was almost tangible.
Wu Kuang's face slowly turned solemn as he silently surged his own strength, as if he was about to cast some sort of protection.
*Zheng… *
A clear and strange noise diffused the air as the blade aura of the Soul Splitting Sabre seemed to have been pushed to its maximum limit, constantly quivering in front of Yang Kai, attempting to break free from his control to slash towards its enemy.
Yang Kai's eyes flashed with brilliance, and he whispered, "Heaven Severing Slash!"
Power surged violently, enveloping the Soul Splitting Sabre, and in the blink of an eye, the dazzling Soul Splitting Sabre was coated with a layer of faint golden radiance, causing the intensity of its aura to rise several fold.
"What kind of Secret Technique is that!?" Wu Kuang was frightened now and could not help letting out a shriek.
As a Great Emperor, he could naturally feel the transformation in the Soul Splitting Sabre, but he had no clue what Yang Kai did that caused this rapid and manifold intensification.
If the aura of the Soul Splitting Sabre before had already surprised him, he was truly terrified now.
Because he clearly felt that the power of this Soul Emperor Artifact was sufficient to threaten his Soul Avatar.
"Heaven Devourer, the name of the one who killed you is Yang Kai!" Yang Kai bellowed with an indifferent expression on his face.
When the words fell, he swung his arm and the Soul Splitting Sabre turned into a stream of light that slashed towards the two Great Emperors, like an arrow released from the bowstring. The blow contained a Heaven-destroying and Earth-shattering power, as if a full moon was crashing towards the world.
Yang Kai learned the Heaven Severing Slash from Tian Yan in the Divine Ascension Mirror, the hidden treasure of Azure Sun Temple.
Although Tian Yan only had a Soul body and no physical form, his cultivation had reached the Great Emperor Realm, and exactly because he did not have a physical body, he focused exclusively on studying the power of the Soul throughout his life. Therefore, his Soul Secret Technique was more profound than any Wu Kuang or Duan Hong Chen possessed.
The Heaven Severing Slash was utterly terrifying.
Yang Kai nourished the Soul Splitting Sabre slowly each day, accumulating power within it in preparation to unleash it all whenever he needed to. The lethality that could be exerted by this first strike was simply unimaginable. Even though it needed to be recharged after every use, this kind of Secret Technique often was the best solution to some critical situations.
The Soul Splitting Sabre, which was a Soul Emperor Artifact, was the best medium for the Heaven Severing Slash to display its might, the two existences complementing each other and multiplying each other's effect.
"A trivial ant thinks that it can kill this King!?" Wu Kuang roared hysterically. He no longer looked disdainful and arrogant as Yang Kai's attack had garnered his full attention. He was taking it very seriously.
While shouting, he desperately pushed his power to free himself from Duan Hong Chen's restraint, but how would Duan Hong Chen allow his wish?
"Wu Kuang, don't struggle anymore. Isn't it great that both of us can go to Hell together? You will have a companion on your journey!" Duan Hong Chen made fun of him and laughed in madness.
"Go by yourself!" Wu Kuang yelled, his power becoming dreadfully unstable.
Duan Hong Chen's complexion changed slightly. Although he did not understand what Wu Kuang was trying to do, he knew that this was the best chance to kill him. What he could do now was to restrain Wu Kuang and prepare to receive the terrifying blow that was about to land on them.
The full moon-like radiance fell and directly engulfed the Soul Avatars of the two Great Emperors.
Wu Kuang let out a terrible roar, mixed with the muffled grunts from Duan Hong Chen.
It seemed that both of them had a hard time taking the blow.
After Yang Kai performed the skill, he immediately turned around and retreated back to the Soul Warming Lotus, stimulating the seven-coloured radiance to cover him.
*Hong long long… *
The aftermath of the tremendous impact exploded and Yang Kai's entire Knowledge Sea boiled chaotically. Huge waves of flaming seawater spread out continuously to the surroundings as the attack landed on the exact centre of his Knowledge Sea, directly forming a massive pit.
Yang Kai suffered a splitting headache because he used this Secret Technique and artifact in his own Knowledge Sea. In the past, Yang Kai had never thought about doing such a reckless thing, but he had no choice today.
The damage was more severe than the battle these two Great Emperors caused before, and Yang Kai was suddenly overwhelmed by pain, feeling lightheaded, and almost fainting at that moment.
*Hong hong hong… *
The fallout continued to rampage, seemingly like it would last until the end of the world.
After some unknown amount of time though, the disastrous activity slowly calmed, and the dazzling radiance gradually dissipated.
Although Yang Kai grimaced in pain, his first reaction was to check the situation of Wu Kuang and Duan Hong Chen. After scanning with his Divine Sense, Yang Kai's face could not help changing.
In his Knowledge Sea, only the Soul Avatar of Duan Hong Chen was left hovering in a certain corner. A huge gash from his shoulder blade to the lower abdomen of his Soul Avatar almost seemed to slice him into two pieces and traces of pure Spiritual Energy were diffusing out of his wound, constantly weakening his aura.
Duan Hong Chen turned his head to look around, panting, "Where is Wu Kuang? Has his Soul been extinguished?"
Yang Kai answered with a depressed face, "He escaped!"
When he was examining himself just now, Yang Kai clearly felt that someone had torn a hole in his Knowledge Sea's defences and escaped.
Since Duan Hong Chen was still here, the one who ran away must have been Wu Kuang.
Hearing this, Duan Hong Chen's complexion darkened as he forced himself to stand up and bellowed, "Boy, send me out!"
With a wave of his hand, Yang Kai sent Duan Hong Chen's Soul Avatar out of his Knowledge Sea without a single word.
After doing so, Yang Kai shook and almost collapsed.
He was eager to find out if Wu Kuang and Duan Hong Chen would continue to fight again outside, but his current condition made him give up on this idea.
Yang Kai was in no position to care about others for now because if he did not focus on maintaining his consciousness, he would black out.
Although he benefited a lot from the battle between the two Great Emperors in his Knowledge Sea, he was also covered in wounds.
Under his urging, the Seven Coloured Soul Warming Lotus blossomed with a gentle light that filled his Knowledge Sea, repairing the damage done to his Soul.
After half a day, Yang Kai finally started to feel that his condition was stabilising.
And it was not until this time that he regained the ability to move.
He immediately sent his consciousness back to his physical body.
After opening his eyes, Yang Kai realized that he was still lost in The Void, drifting along aimlessly.
He saw Duan Hong Chen sitting cross-legged not far in front of him.
Yang Kai gulped hard and carefully inspected the Great Emperor's condition, soon finding that Duan Hong Chen was still breathing, but his aura was extremely weak, and the fluctuations of his Emperor Qi were almost imperceptible.
[At least he is not dead!] Yang Kai could not help letting out a sigh of relief.
He did not hold back even the slightest when he used the Soul Splitting Sabre earlier and was worried that he would kill Duan Hong Chen together with Wu Kuang. Even though it was a request from the Bustling World Great Emperor, how could Yang Kai bear to kill such a noble Great Emperor with his own hands?
Both Yang Kai and Duan Hong Chen were here, so where did Wu Kuang go?
Wu Kuang's physical body was certainly ruined, and his Soul Avatar was definitely injured, so where could he have fled to in the endless Void? If he simply ran around in such a place, he would be swallowed by the Void Turbulence sooner or later. Even if he was the strongest Master in the Star Boundary's history, he would not survive being tossed around in his current state.
[Looks like the odds are against Wu Kuang rather than in his favour.]
Thinking so, Yang Kai was overjoyed.
But after examining Duan Hong Chen's condition more closely, Yang Kai could not help worrying, because Duan Hong Chen's aura was so weak at this moment that it was surprising he hadn't died already. If Yang Kai did not come up with a solution quickly, the Great Emperor may really fall here.
Yang Kai hurriedly took out various healing pills from his Space Ring, and after offering a silent apology, he forced Duan Hong Chen's mouth open and stuffed all the pills into his mouth before using his own strength to help him refine the medicinal efficacies.
When pushing his strength though, Yang Kai immediately found something unusual about himself.
Because all the strength in his own body had turned into an exceedingly pure Emperor Qi!
[What happened?] Yang Kai was shocked yet delighted.
After breaking through to the Emperor Realm, a cultivator would need to spend a great deal of time transforming their Source Qi into Emperor Qi. No one could avoid this process, and the shortest time one would take to do this was normally a few years while most would need far longer than that, possibly even a few hundred years. This was similar to when an Origin King wanted to break through to the Dao Source Realm and needed to first transform their Saint Qi into Source Qi.
However, Yang Kai had just broken through to the Emperor Realm, so why had all his Source Qi already become pure Emperor Qi?
He carefully recalled what had just transpired. At the beginning of his breakthrough, his Source Qi was indeed rapidly transforming into Emperor Qi, but he was hurled into The Void before he could examine himself, then Wu Kuang invaded his Knowledge Sea. After the battle between the two Great Emperors concluded, Yang Kai finally came out from his Knowledge Sea to find his Source Qi had completed the transformation process.
Yang Kai did not know which part of the process caused this to happen, but it was nothing less than an unexpected blessing.
Perhaps, it had something to do with the hardship during his promotion, or maybe it had to do with the insights he gained from the battle between the two Great Emperors in his Knowledge Sea, but regardless of the cause, this had saved Yang Kai at least a few years of hard cultivation.
