Moreover, after becoming a Star Lord, there were additional benefits that Yang Kai hadn't yet had the chance to experience and understand in detail. For now, he couldn't be entirely sure what they were.
But even this single advantage was more than enough. Everywhere he went, the Corpse Spirits had nowhere to hide. A casual palm strike was enough to annihilate entire clusters of them.
Now that he was the sovereign of the Dark Star, who on this world could withstand his power? Not even Qian Tong could.
In merely half a day, Yang Kai traversed the greater part of the Dark Star, exterminating every Corpse Spirit he could sense.
By the time the human martial artists figured out what had happened, Yang Kai had already vanished into thin air, leaving them staring at each other in blank astonishment.
Along the shores of the Carefree Sea, a group of martial artists who had separated from the main human army were fleeing in desperate flight. Behind them, over a dozen Corpse Spirits with grotesque, savage faces pursued relentlessly.
The Corpse Spirits had not had an easy time over the past year. The powerful Corpse Generals among their ranks had been systematically hunted down and eliminated by Qian Tong and the experts of the Lingxiao Sect. Their Cult Master was rumored to have been slain as well. Leaderless, they could only be squeezed back by the united human forces, retreating step by step toward the Carefree Sea in a desperate bid to flee into the vast ocean and find whatever slim chance of survival they could.
But their hopes were not to be realized. Qian Tong and Ye Xiyun had pursued the Corpse Spirit Sect all the way to this shore, cutting off their escape route long before they could venture deep into the Carefree Sea.
The Corpse Spirit Sect was now a spent force, its former glory from a few years ago nothing but a fading memory.
Cornered and desperate, the Corpse Spirits could only hunt down straggling human martial artists, venting their frustration and resentment.
This particular group of seven or eight humans had been unlucky enough to run into Corpse Spirits who outnumbered and outmatched them. After a single clash, they had already lost several members. Forced to flee toward the main human army's position, their leader — a woman with a face like a blooming peach blossom, a bewitchingly seductive appearance, and a voluptuous figure whose heaving chest surged wildly with every stride — was deathly pale despite her beauty. As she ran, she kept pouring her Divine Sense into the communication compass in her hand, desperately hoping to reach her elders and summon help.
A scream of agony rang out from behind. The woman glanced back and saw a sight that made her whole body tremble.
A straggling companion had been caught by several Corpse Spirits and knocked to the ground. The cruel creatures had no intention of killing him outright. Instead, they swarmed over him, gnawing at his flesh with their sharp fangs and teeth.
The companion's screams and pleas for help made the woman's knees buckle. A hot surge passed through her lower abdomen, and she nearly lost control on the spot.
Before long, the companion's cries grew weaker and weaker. Having gorged themselves, the Corpse Spirits became even more savage in their pursuit, closing the distance with every passing second.
The thought that her soft, delicate skin would soon become fodder for the Corpse Spirits — that she would end up as nothing more than an unsightly skeleton — filled her beautiful eyes with sheer terror and helplessness.
The overwhelming fear made her feet heavy as though filled with lead. The Saint Yuan circulating through her body grew sluggish, and she found she could barely lift her legs.
The Corpse Spirits behind her were drawing ever closer. She could even smell the thick, cloying scent of blood.
The woman let out a sharp cry.
At that very moment, a figure materialized before her eyes. A hand reached out, and with a casual grab, she was pulled through the air to safety behind him. The young man then flicked his fingers several times in rapid succession, each accompanied by a sharp whistle of air. Every last one of the dozen-odd Corpse Spirits pursuing them exploded into fine powder without exception.
The crisis was resolved in an instant.
The woman stared dazedly at the figure before her, a rush of relief flooding her heart — the raw, overwhelming feeling of someone who had just narrowly escaped death. The words tumbled out of her mouth before she could stop them: "Yang Kai?"
Her voice was still trembling. Her face was deathly pale, and it was clear she hadn't yet recovered from the terror and shock.
At the sound of his name, the other surviving human martial artists froze for a moment, then every one of them turned to look at Yang Kai with bright, exhilarated eyes.
They had all heard of Yang Kai's famous name, of course, but very few had ever laid eyes on him in person. To think that it was the Sect Master of the Lingxiao Sect himself who had come to their rescue — they were practically moved to tears with gratitude.
"Yin Sudie?" Yang Kai glanced back at the woman and frowned. "What are you doing out here? Where's your master?"
The young woman turned out to be none other than Yin Sudie of the Liuli Gate.
Within the Liuli Gate, she was considered one of the outstanding talents of her generation. The charm techniques she cultivated were difficult for most to resist. But against the Corpse Spirits, charm was utterly useless, and at the first level of the Return to Void Realm, the combat strength she could bring to bear was severely diminished.
Otherwise, she wouldn't have ended up in such a wretched state.
Yin Sudie managed a weak smile and answered meekly: "My master is in Cape City!"
Yang Kai released his Divine Sense to probe the area and quickly detected the presence of a large gathering of martial artists in a city several tens of thousands of miles away. That had to be Cape City — a settlement near the shores of the Carefree Sea.
"If your master is there, then why did you wander off on your own?" Yang Kai asked, his tone carrying a note of displeasure.
Though the humans had gained the upper hand and the Corpse Spirits had virtually no foothold left, venturing out alone was still dangerous — especially in the territory near the Carefree Sea.
Yang Kai didn't particularly like Yin Sudie, but she was, after all, a Disciple of the Lingxiao Sect now. As Sect Master, he was well within his right to reprimand her.