Yang Kai believed that after what he'd said, Qian Tong would be even more convinced. As long as the old man didn't suspect a thing, their side would be completely safe. With his protection, at least there wouldn't be any more incidents like the Xu family constantly coming after them.
"I understand!" Wuyi nodded.
"Good. Now get out—I'm going into seclusion." Yang Kai waved them off.
"Brother Yang, what about the Treasure Pavilion's auction..." Wuyi bit her lower lip.
"You really want to go?" Yang Kai frowned.
To his surprise, not only did Wuyi nod, but even Yang Yan was clearly burning with desire to attend.
"If you want to go, then go." There was no need to stop them over something like this. In Yang Kai's mind, auctions were places to broaden one's horizons. Letting them go see the world would be good for them. Wuyi came from a small family, so even with some experience she couldn't compare to disciples from prestigious families. As for Yang Yan—she had lived such a miserable life before that she was surely a woman who hadn't seen much of the world, and naturally she'd be interested in an auction.
"What about you?" Wuyi asked.
"If I'm still in seclusion, I won't go. Just be careful on your own."
"Oh." Wuyi acknowledged this, then headed out with Yang Yan.
Yang Kai closed the stone chamber, sat cross-legged, and sank his consciousness into his sea of consciousness.
Within his sea of consciousness, two clusters of pure divine soul energy hovered in midair. Yang Kai manifested his spiritual soul form and stared at them with barely contained excitement.
This was essentially the first time Yang Kai had collected divine soul energy from a Return Void Realm expert. No Return Void Realm cultivator had ever died before his eyes, and he had never devoured a Return Void Realm expert's comprehension of the Heavenly Dao and martial dao. So he had no idea that the Return Void Realm possessed a power called Domain. If not for his clash with Hong Zhen today, it might have been a very long time before he encountered this wondrous power—and it stirred a deep yearning within him.
However, the strength of Return Void Realm experts served as a harsh wake-up call. Yang Kai had always fought above his level—at the Zhenyuan Realm, he could defeat Shenyou Realm cultivators. At the Shenyou Realm, he could defeat those in the Saint Realm. At the Saint Realm, he could defeat Holy King Realm cultivators. Now that he had reached the Holy King Realm, he had assumed defeating a first-level Return Void Realm expert would be no trouble. But now he realized he was dead wrong.
The Return Void Realm and the Holy King Realm were fundamentally different—worlds apart. And that difference was Domain!
He sat cross-legged and drew the two clusters of soul energy before him. With utmost care and reverence, Yang Kai began absorbing their comprehension of the Heavenly Dao and martial dao. If his previous devouring of others' soul energy had been nothing but wolfing down food, then now he was savoring every bite. This was a rare opportunity, and if he didn't use this chance to understand what Domain truly was, the next time he faced a Return Void Realm expert, he would still be powerless to resist.
Time ticked by, drop by drop. Never before had Yang Kai been so meticulous in devouring soul energy. He wished he could squeeze every last drop of essence from those two clusters and brand it deep into his soul.
Two days later, the two clusters of pure soul energy had completely vanished. Yang Kai slowly opened his eyes.
He had gained a vague understanding of what Domain was. However, Hong Zhen and his martial brother hadn't been particularly powerful—they were only at the first level of the Return Void Realm. So their understanding and application of Domain had been at best rudimentary. Yang Kai's comprehension was built upon these two, so naturally it wasn't very deep.
Domain was not the same as imposing aura—the kind he had mistakenly called Domain before. Imposing aura was an intangible, formless thing: the psychic pressure of the strong over the weak, the natural bearing of those long in positions of power, the killing intent that erupted involuntarily during battle. Imposing aura was resolve and will—something invisible and intangible.
But it was merely one component of Domain.
A Return Void Realm expert's Domain was the fusion of imposing aura, Saint Yuan, and Divine Sense into one—a wondrous power capable of dealing direct damage. This required a cultivator's comprehension of the martial dao and the Heavenly Dao to reach a certain level before it could be formed.
Domain was like an invisible field of force, but it truly existed and possessed tremendous suppressive power and destructive might. Why could Return Void Realm experts easily kill Holy King Realm cultivators? Because of Domain's absolute suppression. When Yang Kai had unleashed a single drop of golden blood and still failed to defeat Hong Zhen and his brother, it wasn't because his golden blood lacked power. It was because the two men's Domains overlapped, greatly slowing the golden blood's speed, weakening its force, and even detecting its trajectory in advance so they could dodge the lethal strike.
If not for that, they would already be dead.
Understanding Domain was extraordinarily difficult. Hong Zhen had broken through to the Return Void Realm over a decade ago, yet he had only just entered the preliminary stage. His senior martial brother was slightly better, but not by much.
Moreover, Yang Kai had vaguely realized something: only when a Return Void Realm expert's Domain reached completion would they have a chance of advancing to the Void King Realm!
Despite Qian Tong already being at the third level of the Return Void Realm, Yang Kai estimated his Domain was far from complete. This meant that no matter how hard Qian Tong cultivated or how much he increased his Saint Yuan's power, he could not reach the next realm until his Domain was perfected. This was the greatest obstacle blocking his path—one that could not be crossed.
This was probably one of the key reasons why Void King Realm experts were so exceedingly rare in the Hengluo Star Domain. When one's cultivation reached this level, it was no longer just a matter of increasing physical strength—it required comprehensive improvement across every aspect.
Having grasped all this, Yang Kai immediately set about researching Domain. He cast aside the flawed understanding that Hong Zhen and his martial brother had possessed and infused his own comprehension and perspectives, attempting to fuse his imposing aura, Saint Yuan, and Divine Sense into one.