After learning of the deaths of the three who had been sent out, Xue Yue said nothing. She simply rose to her feet and walked toward her room.
"Lady Xue!" Harika stepped forward and called out in a sharp, low voice.
Xue Yue halted and turned to look at him coldly.
An involuntary jolt of fear coursed through Harika as he stared into those beautiful, starlike eyes. He swallowed hard.
For reasons he couldn't explain, in those eyes he caught a glimpse of the Third Young Master Xue's shadow.
As the head of the Rain Waterfall Star branch, Harika had naturally met the Third Young Master Xue and experienced his methods firsthand. He knew this look all too well—it was unmistakably the expression the Third Young Master wore when he was furious.
He had no mind to wonder why two people of different genders could share the same gaze. Harika said in a deep voice, "Lady Xue, were Black Eagle and the others killed by young Brother Yang?"
"Yes." Xue Yue nodded slightly.
Harika, Lin Mufeng, and the middle-aged woman's faces changed dramatically.
"How is that possible? Young Brother Yang is only at the third stage of the Entering Saint Realm. Even if he can fight above his level, he could at best handle one of them. How could he possibly be a match for all three combined?" Lin Mufeng shook his head like a rattle drum, refusing to believe Xue Yue's words no matter what.
Those were three Saint King Realm cultivators, not three at the Entering Saint Realm. This matter was simply too inconceivable.
"Then how do you think they died?" Xue Yue regarded Lin Mufeng flatly. The latter had no answer.
Harika, ever observant, asked cautiously, "Lady Xue, why is it that after hearing of Black Shadow and the others' deaths, you seem rather happy about it?"
"Am I?" Xue Yue's expression remained as indifferent as ever.
Harika shook his head and chose not to press the matter. Black Shadow and the others had died because they weren't strong enough—no one else was to blame. After a moment's thought, he asked, "Lady Xue, Yang Kai was your bodyguard, yet he killed three people from our branch. How should we handle this?"
"What is there to decide? He's no longer my bodyguard. Hmm, when you see him next, bring him back alive. I want him to experience every torture known to man!" Xue Yue issued her command, her voice cold as an icy gale sweeping through the deepest pits of hell. With her small hands clasped behind her back, she slowly walked away.
The three remaining in the great hall exchanged uneasy glances.
"Lady Xue seems to have let go of something that was weighing on her mind," the middle-aged woman mused thoughtfully.
"I don't quite understand—just a few days ago they were getting along splendidly, and in the blink of an eye they've become enemies?" Harika wore a look of utter bewilderment.
"Young people and their affairs... Sigh. Let's not meddle too much. Since Lady Xue has given these orders, we'll follow them. What a pity, though—that kid actually has such terrifying strength. If we'd realized it earlier, we should have kept him around and nurtured his talent properly."
Harika nodded vigorously, feeling it truly was a great pity. A cultivator at the third stage of the Entering Saint Realm who could kill three Saint King Realm experts—that kind of aptitude, that level of strength—was as rare as a phoenix feather or unicorn horn across the entire Star Domain.
The next time they met, all he could do was follow Lady Xue's orders and capture him alive.
…
The vast Star Domain stretched endlessly, its stars shimmering in the void like beautiful, expressive eyes that blinked without cease.
Yang Kai had been wandering through the Star Domain for half a year.
Ever since leaving Rain Waterfall Star, he had been making his way toward another Cultivation Star. The star map adorning the sky above his spiritual sea had proven invaluable—at the very least, he knew where his destination was and wouldn't lose his way among the stars.
Anyone else piloting a Star Shuttle through the void for half a year would have long since lost all sense of direction.
But Yang Kai, who had mastered the star map, harbored no such concerns.
The distances between Cultivation Stars varied. Some were close enough to reach in a month or two by Star Shuttle, while others were so far that even warships required years of travel.
Yang Kai's destination was quite far. Despite half a year already having passed, by his estimation he still needed another three months to arrive.
Such was the tragedy of being poor—unable to afford a warship, lacking the manpower to operate one, and forced to rely solely on a Star Shuttle through the void. It was terribly time-consuming.
Fortunately, Yang Kai had not wasted those days.
The Heavenly Spirit Ghost Orchid was constantly drawing in ambient spiritual energy for him. The spiritual energy in the Star Domain was sparse—laughably thin—and the orchid could barely make a difference.
During this time, Yang Kai had been relying on high-grade Saint Crystals to replenish his expenditure and advance his cultivation.
He cultivated while simultaneously studying alchemy. He had already pored over the books obtained from the Elder several times over, committing to memory the grades, medicinal properties, names, and growth characteristics of every manner of spiritual herb and medicine. The spirit formation diagrams that Zong Ao had developed himself had also been thoroughly mastered by Yang Kai.
After digesting all of that, Yang Kai turned his attention to the secrets of Space.
His battle with those three Saint King Realm cultivators had revealed the wondrous applications of spatial power.