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Watching Yang Kai once again leave from a position not far away with that insufferable air of smugness, Luo Hai suddenly halted mid-stride. His expression turned calm to an almost frightening degree, like the eerie stillness before a raging storm.
He released his divine sense, locking onto the spot where Yang Kai had appeared. His deep gaze pierced through the void, staring in that direction as he drew a long breath and growled, nearly enunciating each word: "I am the Star Lord of Cuiwei Star — heed my command and bestow upon me the power of the stars!"
The moment his words fell, Cuiwei Star trembled billions of miles away. A beam of inconceivably powerful energy shot forth from the distant star, traversing that immense distance in the blink of an eye and slamming squarely into Luo Hai's body.
Luo Hai's already formidable aura erupted wildly, surging to a level that brushed against the third stage of the Void King Realm!
At the same time, inside the grand hall of the City Lord's Manor, Jiu Lao and the other Void King Realm experts all paled and shot to their feet in alarm.
"Star Power Blessing!" The old woman surnamed Lei trembled, her withered frame shaking, and a startling light blazed from her otherwise cloudy eyes.
"It's actually a Star Power Blessing! Lord Luo Hai has drawn upon the fundamental power of Cuiwei Star!"
"As the Star Lord, no matter where he may be, so long as he remains within this star domain, he can call upon the star's source power. Brother Luo Hai must be facing some dire peril — who could possibly have pushed him to this extent?"
"Who is he going all-out against?"
Seven or eight Void King Realm cultivators exchanged bewildered glances, none of them knowing what had happened to force Luo Hai into mobilizing the star's fundamental power.
After all, even for a Star Lord, channeling a star's source power was no trivial matter.
A Star Lord and their cultivation star were inextricably linked, their fates bound together. Once a portion of the star's source was extracted, it could not recover for a considerable time. This was more damaging than the Star Lord himself suffering an injury — regardless of the battle's outcome, Cuiwei Star would bear losses that could not be remedied within a thousand years, unless Luo Hai managed to advance a minor stage during that time and reach the revered third stage.
Had he not been driven to the brink, Luo Hai would never have resorted to this. But how many people in this world could possibly force his hand to such a degree?
Could he have provoked some reclusive peak powerhouse?
Jiu Lao and the others looked ashen-faced.
They were Void King Realm cultivators, yes — but all of them were merely at the first stage. Even the second stage was an unreachable existence for them, let alone the ethereal third stage.
A sense of foreboding settled over the group.
The moment Luo Hai extracted even a sliver of Cuiwei Star's source power, the spiritual energy between heaven and earth across the entire star seemed to thin by a fraction.
The difference was subtle, not immediately obvious, but it was unmistakably weaker.
This was the direct consequence of siphoning a star's source power.
Legend had it that in ancient times, two Star Lords once waged war against each other using their stars' source power. Both sides were devastated, and the cultivation stars they had once ruled — once incredibly prosperous — became barren wastelands to this day, having never recovered their vitality.
Within the star domain, Luo Hai's aura soared with the blessing of star power. He gazed toward Yang Kai's distant position, opened his mouth, and a streak of white energy shot forth like a blade of sword light, cleaving through the void toward its target.
Tens of thousands of miles away, Yang Kai felt his scalp go numb and every hair on his body stand on end. An overwhelming sense of mortal danger flooded his mind.
Though he had no idea what had happened to Luo Hai, he understood with absolute clarity that the man had unleashed his full fury. Not daring to delay for even an instant, Yang Kai reached forward and tore at the space before him.
The spatial rift — which had never failed him before — behaved strangely this time. The area around Yang Kai seemed to be sealed by something. No matter how desperately he tore, the crack in space ahead of him refused to extend beyond a single foot.
Tss tss tss tss...
Piercing sounds erupted from all around. The white sword light had not yet arrived, but the murderous intent alone was enough to plunge Yang Kai into an icy abyss. He stood as though perched atop a mountain of snow ten thousand zhang high, with savage winds like blades of steel scraping against his skin.
Not good! Yang Kai's expression changed drastically. Seeing the white sword light drawing ever closer, he no longer dared remain in place. He pushed his Saint Yuan to its absolute limit and flung himself sideways.
He had barely moved when the white sword light struck the spot where he had stood.
The void seemed to be cleaved in two. A massive spatial rift materialized in that stretch of space.
Luo Hai knew nothing of the power of space, yet this single strike had destabilized the very fabric of spatial continuity.
The shockwave of the attack radiated outward in all directions. A clanging sound rang out from Yang Kai's body, like metal striking metal.
In the blink of an eye, his robes were dyed golden with Golden Blood. Hundreds of tiny punctures marred his otherwise resilient flesh. Through those openings, razor-sharp energy bored inward, attempting to ravage his meridians and muscles.
The mere aftershock of the attack was this devastating — had he been struck directly by that white sword light, Yang Kai was certain he would have been obliterated on the spot.
His face turned slightly pale, but he had no time to assess his wounds. He furiously rallied his Saint Yuan to suppress the invasive energy burrowing into the gaps in his flesh, then once again wielded the power of space to tear open a rift.
He had barely vanished when Luo Hai arrived at that exact spot.
"Let's see how long you can run!" Luo Hai's expression was dark as storm clouds. He clearly had not expected that a star-power-boosted strike had failed to finish Yang Kai off. His already foul mood plummeted to rock bottom as his figure flickered, continuing the pursuit.
Chase and flight — but this time there was none of the ease from before. This time, Yang Kai was running with everything he had.