Martial Peak

Yang Kai's head still remained lowered.

Bright Moon sighed, "It was my own choice, so it has nothing to do with you. If it were Iron Blood or Serene Soul or one of the others, they would have made the same decision. It's just that you've been affected. In truth, this King should be thanking you for not letting me die at the hands of the Demon Race."

Yang Kai could understand what the Great Emperor was trying to say, but he still blamed himself for the fact that he had killed him.

"Now it seems I must thank you again," Bright Moon kept a smile on his face, "Xun'er did this, and you've readily come to her rescue."

It was then Yang Kai lifted his head and stared at him in shock, "Senior, did you already anticipate this?"

Bright Moon replied with a smile, "Xun'er is my daughter, so I know her temperament well. She wants to refine the pagoda, but she isn't qualified yet. Since she insisted on coming here, this outcome is to be expected."

It was because he had expected this outcome that he decided to leave his Remnant Soul with Yang Kai. He believed that if Yang Kai could safely leave the Demon Realm, the latter would surely come to Star Soul Palace, and if Lan Xun came across any danger, Yang Kai would do his utmost to save her.

However, if Yang Kai lost his life in the Demon Realm, all efforts would be meaningless.

"Where is this?"

"The core of the World Pagoda," Bright Moon replied calmly, "Since you've come here, I'm sure you're aware of what's going on in the pagoda. Presently, many Small Worlds and Sealed Worlds in the pagoda have turned into Spirit Manifestations. When this King was still alive, the power of my seal was able to ensure that the pagoda remained stable. Now that I have died, the seal has been weakened. All five floors have become one, and the space in the pagoda has become chaotic. It wouldn't have mattered if no external forces interfered; however, Xun'er barged into this place to refine the pagoda, so it's only natural that the Small Worlds and Sealed Worlds show some reluctance and resistance. Though, with this King's seal still functional, they can't harm Xun'er, they can make her fall asleep. A thousand, or maybe ten thousand years later, when my seal finally wears off, those manifestations will break free from the chains of the pagoda."

Yang Kai couldn't completely understand him, but he had somewhat grasped the general idea, so he asked, "Senior, what should I do to save Junior Sister Lan and safeguard the pagoda?"

Without answering his question, Bright Moon asked, "Do you know how many Small Worlds and Sealed Worlds there are in this pagoda?"

Yang Kai knew that there were a lot, but he couldn't tell the exact number. After all, the area of flowers in front of him was expansive. In fact, Bright Moon didn't expect any answer from him as he subsequently said, "There are exactly ten thousand of them."

Upon hearing the number, Yang Kai couldn't help but gasp. Although he had already imagined it would be a large number, he was still surprised to learn that there were exactly ten thousand of them.

Bright Moon went on to explain, "The World Pagoda is an Ancient Exotic Artifact, and although this King has refined it, I still can't completely comprehend its mysteries, so I still don't know how it is able to accommodate so many Small Worlds and Sealed Worlds. There must be a reason behind it, but it remains a mystery. However, out of the ten thousand worlds, one is now missing, so it has become nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine. Although nine is the largest single number, it isn't complete anymore when one is missing. Since the pagoda is not complete, it has definitely resulted in some flaws, that is how the current situation came about."

Yang Kai asked curiously, "One world is missing?"

Without answering his question, Bright Moon turned to look silently at him with a smile.

With his face flushing, an embarrassed Yang Kai coughed, "The Thousand Illusions Dreamworld?"

He suddenly recalled that when he finished training in the World Pagoda previously, he had taken away a certain butterfly. After he placed it in High Heaven Palace, the Thousand Illusions Dreamworld opened once more.

So, the missing one was the butterfly he had taken away. Thinking back, Yang Kai realised that the butterfly was also a Small World Spirit Manifestation. Since he had taken it away from the World Pagoda, it resulted in a single piece being missing from the ten thousand worlds.

Yang Kai couldn't have expected that he was the reason behind all of this, so he was very embarrassed. When he left with the butterfly, he thought that no one had found out about it, so he had been gleeful for quite some time; however, it now seemed that the Great Emperor was already aware of it, but decided to let him get away with it.

Then, he recalled that when he left Star Soul Palace in the past, Bright Moon had intercepted him. Apparently, even back then, the Great Emperor was aware of what had happened.

Bright Moon flashed a smile at him, "It was your opportunity to have been able to take out a Sealed World from this pagoda. No one can blame you."

Certainly, Yang Kai knew that the Great Emperor was just trying to console him, so with a solemn expression, he said, "This Junior will return to High Heaven Palace and bring the Thousand Illusions Dreamworld back to complete the pagoda again!"

Bright Moon shook his head, "You can't go out. The power I'm left with is only enough for me to open up the pagoda once. After I send you out of this place, you won't be able to come in again."

A flabbergasted Yang Kai asked, "What should I do then?"

If he couldn't bring the Thousand Illusions Dreamworld back, he couldn't make the World Pagoda whole again and solve the crisis facing Lan Xun; however, if he left, he wouldn't be able to come back. He was in a dilemma.

Bright Moon replied with a smile, "You have to rely on yourself."

"What does Senior mean?" Yang Kai asked doubtfully.

"Since you're a Master of the Dao of Space, you should be able to create a world on your own."

Yang Kai's gaze brightened when he heard that, then he asked, "Senior, do you mean you want me to create a Small World?"

Bright Moon nodded, "Although there are ten thousand Small Worlds and Sealed Worlds, most of them are quite small and insignificant, there just to make up the numbers, so a powerful world isn't required to make up for the current flaw. You just have to randomly create a Small World."

It was such a coincidence. Even without this trip to Star Soul Palace, Yang Kai would still attempt to create a world on his own at some point. He hadn't expected that after he entered the World Pagoda, Bright Moon would ask him to do exactly that. It seemed that it was his fate to do such a thing.

Moreover, the reason the World Pagoda had become incomplete and unstable was that Yang Kai had taken the Thousand Illusions Dreamworld away, so he had to make up for it. Basically, it was cause and effect.

In fact, he already had a Small World, which was the Sealed World Bead; however, the bead was closely related to many other things as it was now the key to the war between the Great Worlds, so Yang Kai couldn't just place it in the World Pagoda. Even if he was willing to do so, the pagoda probably couldn't accept it.

The World Pagoda might be able to accept the original Sealed World Bead; however, now that the bead had swallowed up a large area of the Demon Realm, part of it has become something similar to the Demon Realm. Therefore, the World Pagoda would probably be unable to take it in.

"Can you do it?" Bright Moon looked smilingly at him.

"Yes!" Yang Kai nodded seriously. Even if he didn't have the intention of making a Small World right now, he would have to do it for the sake of the World Pagoda and Lan Xun, to say nothing of the fact that he was intending on doing this anyways.

Then, Yang Kai suddenly recalled something as he fished out a palm-sized mountain and placed it on his palm, "Senior, do you think this will suffice?"

Bright Moon took a look and replied with a smile, "It seems that you're well prepared."

Yang Kai couldn't help laughing as he replied, "I did not create it."

The palm-sized mountain was a real mountain, not a fake one. The mountain was covered in forests and animals could be seen roaming around. They could also hear the tigers roar from time to time.

Floating Mountain was refined by Li Wu Yi. It was given to Yang Kai some time ago to study the Space Principles involved in its creation, but he hadn't expected that it could be useful at this point.

Yang Kai had roamed around the mountain once, so he already knew the mechanism behind it; therefore, whether the mountain was still with him didn't matter anymore. It would be wonderful if the mountain could be used here. If it wasn't feasible, he would have to create a new world on his own, but he would need some time to do that. It might take him months or even years.

As he observed Bright Moon's expression, Yang Kai believed that Floating Mountain should fit the bill, but he still asked, "Can it be used?"

"En," Bright Moon gently nodded. Although his figure was translucent, he was still able to pick up the mountain. After probing it, he said with a smile, "It was refined by Li Wu Yi, right?"

It wouldn't be difficult to come to this conclusion. In the entire Star Boundary, only Yang Kai and Li Wu Yi could be considered experts in the Dao of Space. Since Yang Kai had said he didn't make it, the creator must be Li Wu Yi.

"Yes," Yang Kai replied, "I obtained it some time ago."

"Such a coincidence." Bright Moon smiled and nodded his head, "We can save a lot of time since we have it. En, you can leave now. You're unable to help any further here."

"Senior…" Yang Kai said.

However, Bright Moon lifted his hand to stop him and looked smilingly at him, "Since you've obtained the World's Will of the Star Boundary, you should start working hard so that you'll not disappoint the world and everyone in it."

Yang Kai fell silent for a moment before cupping his fists, "Junior will take your teachings to heart. Farewell, Senior!"

Having said his piece, Yang Kai turned around and walked out of the valley. He had just bid the Great Emperor farewell for the final time.

He could feel a gale surging behind him as flowers and leaves shook violently. At the same time, World Force swept across the area.

After he left the valley, Yang Kai realised that the violent fluctuations had calmed, and the narrow path seemed to have become an impenetrable barrier that sealed the storm within the valley.

Looking up, he realised that there were no Sun, Moon, or Stars in the sky within the World Pagoda, only an endless void.

Hearing a sound from a nearby spot, Yang Kai turned his head, only to see the timid little girl standing over there. As their eyes met, the little girl quickly lowered her head.

Yang Kai smiled as he knew that she must be a being just like Tiea. It was thanks to her that he was able to find Lan Xun, so he made a small bow to salute her.

Surprisingly, the little girl flickered before disappearing. She was replaced by a green plant on the ground. The leaves were made up from even smaller compound leaves that looked like a shuttle that was used for weaving. The leaves folded inward and drooped as though they were too shy to meet anyone.

Yang Kai was startled for a moment. Nevertheless, he soon recalled that Tiea could also transform into both Human form and the Thousand Illusions Butterfly, so it was completely reasonable that the little girl could turn into two different forms.

However, as an Emperor Alchemist, he couldn't recognise what kind of treasure this plant was. After observing it for a long time, he burst into laughter.

It wasn't a treasure of any kind, but rather the most common type of flower. A petite shy plant was able to contain a Small World. The world was truly vast and filled with wonders.

Upon that revelation, Yang Ki finally understood why she was so timid, it was simply in her nature.