Chapter 1695. Lord of the Dark Star

Yang Kai opened his eyes, and a strange sensation welled up from the depths of his heart.

The entire Dark Star had seemingly become a part of his body. He could sense every stretch of land across the star at will, discern the fertile and barren regions of this Cultivation Star, and perceive the births, aging, and deaths of every living creature upon it!

If he so desired, he could arrive at any location on the Dark Star in an instant, without the slightest restriction. If he wished, he could shatter the heavens and split the earth, trigger avalanches and tsunamis, all in the span of a single thought…

He gently clenched his fist, and the spiritual energy of heaven and earth quivered subtly, issuing forth a sound like the tolling of a great bell from the void.

In that moment, billions of living beings across the Dark Star looked up with faces full of shock, having no idea what had just happened.

The moment Yang Kai had become the Star Lord, the entire Dark Star had undergone an ineffably subtle transformation — a change so delicate that only a handful of the most powerful among them could perceive it. The vast majority noticed nothing at all.

From this day forward, the Dark Star would be inextricably linked to Yang Kai. As his Cultivation advanced, the vitality of the entire star would only grow more radiant.

Yang Kai turned his gaze inward and discovered a tiny sphere nestled within his dantian — it looked exactly like the Dark Star itself, shrunk by countless orders of magnitude, suspended there and rotating at an almost imperceptible speed.

The Primordial Star Source!

To become the Lord of a Cultivation Star, one had to refine its Primordial Source. And what Yang Yan had previously driven into his body was unmistakably the Dark Star's own.

That minuscule replica of the Dark Star, with every revolution, fed back a wisp of mysterious, subtle energy that nourished Yang Kai's body, while simultaneously drawing upon his own power to strengthen itself.

It was a mutually beneficial process.

Yet even as excitement and joy surged through him, a flicker of suspicion crossed Yang Kai's face.

He had become the Dark Star's Star Lord? Just like that — the sovereign of this entire world?

It felt unreal. Junior Sister had become the Star Lord of the Profound Tangent Continent, but that was due to sheer luck — the continent's spiritual energy was pitifully scarce. Like an old man on the brink of death, desperately clinging to life, the Profound Tangent Continent's Primordial Source had sought out Xia Ningshang of its own accord and offered itself for refinement.

But the Dark Star was different. Even with the suppression of heavenly laws preventing martial artists from comprehending the mysteries of the Void King Realm, this was still a vigorous, thriving Cultivation Star. If the Profound Tangent Continent was a dying old man, then the Dark Star was a man in the prime of his life, bursting with vigor.

To refine the Primordial Source of a star like this — it was impossible without at least Void King Realm cultivation. Moreover, it had to be the third level of the Void King Realm!

Someone like Luo Hai, who had managed to become a Star Lord with only the second level, was a singular anomaly across the entire Star Domain.

As though sensing Yang Kai's doubt, Yang Yan's voice drifted into his spiritual sea: "The Dark Star's Primordial Source was held in my grasp for tens of thousands of years. Now that it finally has a chance to escape my control, do you think it would cooperate willingly?"

Yang Kai stared.

Yang Yan chuckled softly. "Relax — its temper was worn smooth long ago. It certainly wasn't this docile back then. That's precisely why I had to lock it away."

Yang Kai smiled ruefully, finally understanding. Anyone — or anything — imprisoned for tens of thousands of years would have its spirit broken. Though the Primordial Source possessed no consciousness of its own, it knew perfectly well it could not resist Yang Yan's methods. It had no choice but to submit.

The position of Star Lord had come so easily that Yang Kai still hadn't quite adjusted.

With a thought, he expanded his Divine Sense outward. The tide of his consciousness spread like a spider's web, radiating in all directions. In barely a moment, it had enveloped more than half of the Dark Star.

Yang Kai detected the traces of numerous battles, as though he were witnessing them with his own eyes.

But the spiritual force within his sea of consciousness was depleting at a terrifying rate.

When Yang Kai finally withdrew his Divine Sense, he was startled to find that in the span of merely five breaths, his sea of consciousness had shrunk by a full third.

That meant he could monitor the Dark Star for no more than fifteen breaths before his sea of consciousness would be completely exhausted — and even then, he couldn't survey the entire star at once! Calculating the cost, Yang Kai clicked his tongue in amazement. Though his cultivation was only at the third level of the Return Void Realm, his spiritual power was comparable to that of the Void King Realm. Moreover, with a supreme treasure like the Seven-Colored Soul Warming Lotus, his sea of consciousness should never run dry under normal circumstances.

It seemed that even as a Star Lord, without the cultivation to back it up, one still could not act entirely without restraint.

Still, this was more than enough for now.

"I'll go deal with a small nuisance. I'll come back to see you later," Yang Kai said casually. Without waiting for Yang Yan's reply, his figure flickered and vanished.

More than a hundred thousand li from the Ling Xiao Sect, a group of Corpse Spirit Cult disciples were launching a ferocious counterattack, pressing hard against a band of human martial artists struggling to hold the line.

Ever since the Ling Xiao Sect and the Shadow Moon Hall had jointly issued their rallying cry, the entire Dark Star had erupted into a tide of resistance against the Corpse Spirit Cult.

Under the leadership of Ye Xiyun and Qian Tong, the Corpse Spirit Cult's armies had been driven back steadily, suffering tremendous casualties among the Corpse Spirit clans. Those martial artists who had lost their homes and the foundations of their sects had gathered together of their own accord, launching attack after attack against the cult forces occupying their former strongholds.

Without Corpse Pits to convert fresh followers, every Corpse Spirit that fell meant one fewer — there was no way to replenish their ranks. Combined with the spreading rumor that the Cult Master was dead and the entire cult leadership had been slaughtered, the Corpse Spirit Cult had almost no power left to resist.

The human warriors pressed forward like an unstoppable force, striking on every front, routing the Corpse Spirit armies and sending them fleeing in disarray.