The figure seated in the chair was dressed plainly enough, though his entire face was obscured by some strange energy. Even when Yang Kai probed with his divine sense, he still couldn't make out his true appearance.
However, Yang Kai felt the man was somewhat familiar, as though he had seen him somewhere before.
This discovery caused Yang Kai's brow to furrow.
If his guess was correct, this person should be the mysterious Master of the Corpse Spirit Cult.
Yet Yang Kai couldn't sense any corpse energy from him at all! In other words, he wasn't one of the Corpse Spirit race at all.
Could it really be as Yang Yan had said — that this was the person who had fought Yang Yan all those years ago, and had simply mastered a method of converting and controlling the Corpse Spirit race, which was why he could rule from on high?
Just as Yang Kai was lost in thought, the figure suddenly chuckled and lightly clapped his hands. In an approving tone, he said: "You actually found your way here. Quite the nerve!"
Hearing the man's voice, Yang Kai's brow shot up and his expression turned odd. His gaze deepened as he stared straight at the figure, as though trying to pierce through that layer of obstruction to see his true face.
The other party made no effort to conceal himself. The strange energy covering his face gradually dissipated, revealing a handsome countenance.
"Lu Ye?" Yang Kai exclaimed in a low voice.
This man was none other than Lu Ye — the young master of Flowing Cloud Valley, who had crossed swords with him on multiple occasions and even tried to kill him!
Their first encounter had been when the Flame Scaling Sand Region opened. While competing for the Red Candle Fruit, Lu Ye had launched a sneak attack. Yang Kai clashed with him and managed to sever one of his arms, though Lu Ye had still managed to escape.
After that came the battle at Dragon Vein Mountain. The Xie family had Lu Ye's shadow lurking behind them — it was Lu Ye who had goaded and controlled Xie Li and the others to attack Dragon Vein Mountain.
Yang Kai had never understood what grudge Lu Ye bore against him that could make the man so fixated on him.
Previously, Yang Kai had assumed it was simple enmity, but now... a sudden flash of insight struck his mind as he connected all the scattered clues, and a bold, almost audacious conjecture surfaced within him.
"Perhaps I shouldn't call you Lu Ye, since this is nothing more than a body you seized through soul transfer." The corner of Yang Kai's mouth curled upward slightly, his expression one of calm certainty.
Lu Ye, still seated in the chair, froze for an instant — as though some secret had been laid bare. He regarded Yang Kai with visible surprise: "You actually figured that out too? I've underestimated you!"
"Is it really so difficult?" Yang Kai chuckled softly. "The first time we met was at the Spirit-Washing Divine Water site in the Flame Scaling Sand Region. I obtained a Void Thought Crystal from there, and you've never let me go since. If that's the case, then that Void Thought Crystal was yours, wasn't it?"
Lu Ye's originally handsome and composed face suddenly contorted into a hideous snarl. The veins on the back of his hand bulged as he snarled: "That's right — it was my Void Thought Crystal! What did you do with it? Why have I been completely unable to sense its aura?"
This matter was nothing short of a nightmare for Lu Ye. If Yang Kai hadn't taken that Void Thought Crystal, then after his soul transfer, he would only have needed to merge with it to instantly recover at least half his strength. Even with the Dark Star's heavenly laws suppressing him — preventing him from breaking through to the Void King Realm on the spot — for someone of his caliber, leaving the Dark Star at the peak of the Return Void Stage wouldn't have been a problem at all.
All he would have needed was to find a secluded spot, go into closed cultivation for a few decades, and restoring his original power would not have been a dream. By then, the entire Star Field would have been his for the taking.
But all of that beautiful promise had been destroyed by Yang Kai!
He couldn't sense the existence of his own Void Thought Crystal at all, let alone recover it. That crystallization and essence was the product of his entire lifetime of Cultivation. Without it, given the mediocre aptitude of Lu Ye's body, recovering his strength would be next to impossible.
So many years had passed, and he had only managed to cultivate to the third level of the Return Void Stage. The thought was almost unbearable!
"Sorry about that. I've already fused with it!" Yang Kai said with a grin, tapping his own temple with a finger.
"Impossible!" Lu Ye dismissed it outright. Gazing at Yang Kai the way one might look at an ant, he sneered: "With your pathetic level of power, you actually think you could fuse with my Void Thought Crystal?"
The soul that had seized Lu Ye's body had once been a being on the same level as the Star Emperor. The Void Thought Crystal he had left behind was naturally of an extraordinarily high grade. Even a Void King Realm powerhouse who attempted to merge with it rashly would have their spiritual sea shattered and their soul utterly destroyed.
Yang Kai had only been at the first level of the Return Void Stage at the time. How could he possibly have fused with it?
Lu Ye clearly wasn't about to believe such nonsense. He assumed Yang Kai was lying — that he had simply hidden the Void Thought Crystal using some special method, preventing Lu Ye from detecting it.
"Believe it or don't," Yang Kai said with an indifferent shrug. He certainly had no obligation or inclination to explain the matter in detail. With a treasure like the Warm Spirit Lotus on his side, fusing that Void Thought Crystal hadn't required him to do anything at all. Even he himself hadn't realized until much later that the crystal had been a Void Thought Crystal.
"Enough talk! Now that you've come today, don't think you're leaving. As for where my Void Thought Crystal is — once I've captured you, there will be plenty of time to ask!" Lu Ye let out a cold snort, and the aura emanating from his body abruptly turned violent and sinister.
Yang Kai burst into laughter: "You're on the verge of death and still spouting big words!"
Lu Ye started at those words.
The very next moment, the entire Corpse Cave began to tremble violently. From high above, a piercingly sharp aura descended in a leisurely manner, so overwhelming that Lu Ye's entire body seemed to be bound in place — he couldn't move a muscle. His face turned dark as he stood rooted to the spot.
Rumble...