Monday — Vote for recommendations!
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Yang Kai's formidable soul force left the white-robed man visibly shaken. Consumed by humiliation and rage, he let out a piercing howl as his entire body underwent a drastic transformation.
Much like Fang Fengqi, who had been slain by Yang Kai back in Heavenly Fate City, his physique suddenly swelled outward. White fur resembling steel needles sprouted across his exposed skin, two fangs jutted from the corners of his mouth, and even the breath he exhaled was tinged with verdant corpse qi.
He launched himself into the air like a cannonball, punching clean through the palace ceiling. His eyes brimmed with vicious intent as he locked onto Yang Kai's incoming position. His claw-like hands swept through the air again and again, unleashing wave after wave of claw energy sharp enough to tear space itself.
"Get back down!" Yang Kai barked. He didn't dodge or evade, his fist wreathed in black flames as he threw a devastating punch head-on.
The sky full of claw energy shattered on contact. The tremendous force slammed into the white-robed man's body, drawing a muffled grunt from his lips as he plummeted downward like a meteor.
A moment later, with a thunderous crash, a man-shaped crater was blasted into the ground.
The white-robed man grew even more frenzied with fury. Despite having taken Yang Kai's blow head-on, he appeared to have suffered remarkably little damage. He vaulted out of the crater and spat out a round pearl from his mouth. Dense, verdant corpse qi coalesced into arrows and shot toward Yang Kai in a rain of projectiles.
Yang Kai flicked his wrist, and the Dragon Bone Sword appeared gracefully in his hand. He flooded it with holy yuan. Accompanied by a soaring dragon cry, the sword shuddered and transformed into a massive jade-green dragon that lunged downward, shaking its head and thrashing its tail.
Yang Kai stood atop the dragon's head, gazing down at the white-robed man with undisguised contempt.
The corpse qi that could instantly kill any Return Void realm expert upon contact had absolutely no effect on the jade-green dragon. The corpse qi was toxic, but so was the dragon — naturally, one could not harm the other.
Instead, the jade-green dragon opened its enormous maw and devoured every wisp of the verdant corpse qi pouring from the corpse pearl, sending the white-robed man into a panic.
The distance between them closed rapidly.
Staring at the dragon head growing larger by the second with its jaws gaping wide, the white-robed man finally lost his composure. He let out a startled shriek and scrambled to dodge.
The jade-green dragon struck nothing but air, but Yang Kai had already leapt from the dragon's head, extending his hand in a beckoning gesture. The dragon transformed back into the Dragon Bone Sword, which he caught and brought crashing down in a single devastating slash.
The bladeless sword emanated an aura so terrifying it seemed capable of cleaving heaven and earth apart.
The white-robed man turned deathly pale. He hurriedly raised one arm to block.
Silently, a flash of green light swept past, and a fur-covered arm was severed clean off, tumbling to the ground.
That finally terrified the white-robed man for real. He had never imagined that someone on the Dark Star could be this horrifying. He had previously fought Ye Xiyun, said to be the Dark Star's strongest cultivator, and had found her rather unremarkable. Yet this young man who had suddenly appeared was not merely stronger than Ye Xiyun — he was stronger by an entire league. He himself was simply no match at all.
Seeing Yang Kai raise his sword for another strike, the white-robed man abandoned all pretense of dignity. He desperately rolled across the ground to evade the blow, seizing his severed arm in the process, then sprang to his feet and retreated at full speed.
It was only after putting a hundred zhang between himself and Yang Kai that he finally stopped, still shaken. He pressed the severed arm against the stump while fixing Yang Kai with a dark, murderous gaze.
Where the Dragon Bone Sword had severed the limb, countless tiny buds of flesh had already sprouted. They writhed and squirmed, and in mere moments the arm was reattached as if it had never been cut.
The white-robed man did all of this while Yang Kai simply watched with cold indifference. He made no attempt to stop him. Only after the arm had been fully restored did Yang Kai suddenly flash a grin: "Have we met somewhere before?"
Hearing this, the white-robed man's brow furrowed. Then realization struck, and he pointed at Yang Kai with utter disbelief: "It's you — it was actually you!"
"So we have met," Yang Kai said with a faint smile. "In that corpse cavern, if I remember correctly. I recall you now."
The moment he had first laid eyes on this white-robed man, something about him had seemed familiar. Now it all came back. He and Yang Yan had once ventured deep beneath the Valley of Fallen Heroes into a corpse cavern, where they had crossed paths with this very man. He had even attacked them at the time.
Back then, the white-robed man had already been a Corpse General-level powerhouse, and a single strike had been enough to send Yang Kai fleeing for his life. After all these years, his strength had clearly grown considerably.
"I remember you too!" The white-robed man sneered viciously. "You're the one who infiltrated the corpse cavern and stole all those treasures. But I should actually thank you!"
"Thank me for what?" Yang Kai frowned.
"Thank you for taking that ball of Solar True Essence! Without you, I would never have achieved what I have today!" The white-robed man burst into laughter.
"What does that have to do with Solar True Essence?" Yang Kai asked, puzzled.
"Even if I told you, you wouldn't understand!" the white-robed man scoffed. "I am Kang Feirao, the White-Robed Corpse General of the Corpse Spirit Cult. Boy — state your name!"
"White-Robed Corpse General…" Yang Kai raised an eyebrow. "Let me guess — is there also a Red-Robed Corpse General? A Green-Robed Corpse General? Something like that?"
He recalled that in that corpse cavern, he had seen several other Corpse Generals clad in different colors of robes.
"That's right!" Kang Feirao made no denial whatsoever. "Boy, my Corpse Spirit Cult will unify the Dark Star sooner or later. You're young, but your cultivation is nothing to scoff at. Why not pledge yourself to us? I'll personally vouch for you with the Cult Master and secure you a position as a deacon!"
"Not interested," Yang Kai said flatly.
"Don't refuse a toast only to drink a forfeit, boy. I'm extending this offer because I recognize your talent. You don't actually think I can't handle you, do you?"
"Can you?" Yang Kai smiled faintly.
The moment the words left his lips, Kang Feirao's expression changed drastically. He realized, to his horror, that Yang Kai — who had been a hundred zhang away — had somehow closed the distance in the blink of an eye and was now standing right in front of him. A finger stabbed forward, and a colossal spatial rift materialized before him like a titanic blade, slashing straight toward his body!