When he raised his head again, he was startled to find that above the shelf holding the incense burner, there was yet another portrait. It showed only a single back view — unmistakably a woman's. Her figure was tall and slender, her form graceful and lithe, draped in a long white dress. She looked like a celestial maiden, regal and untouchable.
Yang Kai took one look and felt his heart lurch. For no reason he could understand, an overwhelming urge to drop to his knees in worship surged through him. Alarmed, he immediately circulated his technique to suppress the restless impulse.
When he looked more carefully, Yang Kai's brows furrowed.
He realized that the back view of the woman in the painting seemed faintly familiar, as though he had seen it somewhere before.
Moreover, once he had dispelled that urge to worship, the painting itself seemed to become utterly mundane — just an ordinary portrait, nothing remarkable about it.
Shaking his head inwardly, Yang Kai carefully examined the scroll with his Divine Sense. Only after confirming there was nothing hidden inside did he withdraw his gaze.
He could be certain that the woman depicted was either the owner of this pavilion or someone deeply connected to her. Otherwise, her back portrait would not have been displayed here.
He had no intention of taking the painting with him. Having gained the Ten-Thousand-Year Incense was already more than enough — there was no need to covet someone else's portrait as well.
He surveyed his surroundings once more but found nothing else.
The first floor of the pavilion seemed to hold nothing beyond the Ten-Thousand-Year Incense burning in the incense burner and that plain portrait. There was nothing else.
A staircase leading to the second floor stood nearby. Yang Kai strode over and ascended without hesitation.
After turning a corner, he arrived at the second floor with ease.
What greeted his eyes left him stunned.
The second floor of the pavilion was a woman's boudoir. Though the room held very few possessions, Yang Kai could still tell from the furnishings that this had indeed been a place where a woman lived.
One bed, one desk, one chair, and a meditation cushion on the bed. That was all — the furnishing was exceedingly sparse.
His gaze swept over the desk and chair before settling on the meditation cushion. The owner of this pavilion had clearly lived and cultivated here. A meditation cushion she had personally used was unlikely to be something ordinary.
With this thought, Yang Kai stepped forward and reached down to pick up the cushion.
But to his surprise, the moment his fingers touched it, the cushion crumbled into a pile of fine dust.
It turned out to be nothing but an ordinary meditation cushion. It had long since succumbed to the ravages of time and was completely unusable. Seeing this, Yang Kai froze for a moment before laughing at himself. It seemed that his string of consecutive gains had made him a bit too greedy — he had even wanted to snag someone else's meditation cushion. Now even the heavens couldn't stomach it.
He spent a while searching the second floor, and only after confirming there was truly nothing of value did he turn and head for the staircase leading to the third floor.
This trip to the Flowing Flame Sandy Ground had already yielded enormous rewards. After the unexpected incident with the meditation cushion, his mindset immediately calmed. Even if the third floor truly had nothing to offer, he wouldn't mind too much.
With this thought, he quickly climbed the stairs and arrived at the third floor.
To his surprise, there was indeed something here.
And it was a token — a token floating openly in midair!
Yang Kai glanced at the token and his heart jolted. He hurriedly began rummaging through the space within his Black Book.
A moment later, another token appeared in his hand. This one was nearly identical to the token hovering before him — both made of a material that was neither metal nor wood, with no patterns on them. However, right in the center of each token was a single large character: "Emperor."
An oppressive aura radiated from the token, making one's heart tremble with fear and filling them with the urge to prostrate in worship.
"A Star Emperor Token!" Yang Kai's expression turned grave as he immediately recognized it.
The Star Emperor Token — according to legend, it was a token crafted by the Star Emperor himself. The Ghost Ancestor had once told Yang Kai that there were a total of ten Star Emperor Tokens, but their whereabouts were all unknown. Within each Star Emperor Token was sealed one of the Star Emperor's divine abilities, and using that ability, one could easily slay a Void King Realm powerhouse.
The Star Emperor Token in Yang Kai's possession had been given to him by the Ghost Ancestor. After all, Yang Kai had helped the Ghost Ancestor leave the Suspended Continent, freeing him from two thousand years of imprisonment. Though the Ghost Ancestor was arrogant and unprincipled, walking the line between good and evil, at the final moment — for reasons unknown — he had given this Star Emperor Token to Yang Kai.
It was likely a way of repaying Yang Kai for saving his life.
He had also warned Yang Kai that in moments of true peril, he could pour Sacred Yuan into the token and activate the Star Emperor's divine ability sealed within.
Of course, even if he used the Star Emperor's ability to slay a powerful enemy, with Yang Kai's current level of cultivation, he wouldn't have much chance of survival. The power sealed within the Star Emperor Token was simply too great — once activated, it was entirely possible that it would drain every last drop of his energy.
Since obtaining this Star Emperor Token, Yang Kai had always kept it stowed away in the space of his Black Book, never once entertaining the thought of using it.