It took a long while before light, careless footsteps finally came from within the wooden hut. Moments later, a clean-featured youth emerged. He looked to be no more than twenty years old, his cultivation at the third level of the Holy King Realm at most. He regarded Yang Kai with a gaze that mingled hatred and wariness, disbelief flickering in his eyes, as though he couldn't quite fathom how Yang Kai had managed to find him so easily.
Their eyes met. A faint smile tugged at the corner of Yang Kai's lips, while the clean-featured youth stiffened as though facing a mortal enemy.
"How did you discover that this Sovereign was hiding here?" the youth finally broke under the suffocating silence. Yang Kai's presence now exuded tremendous pressure, and he could no longer maintain his earlier air of carefree composure. "This Sovereign believes he left no trail whatsoever!"
"Finding you wasn't easy," Yang Kai said with a slight smile. "If not for your Myriad Poisonous Evil Gu, I probably truly never would have found you."
As he spoke, Yang Kai gestured toward the handful of warriors he had subdued.
The youth's expression darkened. He glanced at the subordinates he had planted his Myriad Poisonous Evil Gu upon, and a flash of vexation crossed his eyes.
He hadn't anticipated that recruiting a few temporary followers would prove to be such a catastrophic blunder.
He had been exceedingly cautious this time — fleeing to Xiaguang Island to recuperate, he had only taken in subordinates of very low strength, people who would normally never draw anyone's attention. Yet Yang Kai had spotted the flaw.
"Even so, killing me won't be so easy — you've already tried before and failed. Why don't we strike a deal instead?" The youth tilted his chin upward, his tone dripping with arrogance.
"Not interested," Yang Kai shook his head.
The youth was stunned. "You won't even hear me out before saying you're not interested? Aren't you afraid of regretting it?"
"Nothing to regret. Today you die, without question!" Yang Kai laughed coldly.
The youth burst into laughter as well, regarding Yang Kai with mockery. Speaking with a self-important air that belied his youthful appearance, he said, "Big words for a brat. Last time this Sovereign slipped from your grasp, and this time will be no different. But if you stop hounding me, I could offer you something — a boon that will benefit you for a lifetime!"
"What could a bug-herding wretch like you possibly offer me?" Yang Kai chuckled.
The youth's expression shifted again. He furrowed his brow and ventured cautiously, "You know what this Sovereign truly is?"
"Whether I know or not makes no difference. Today I say you die — you die!" Yang Kai snorted coldly. He wasted no more time with words and thrust his hand forward, reaching toward the youth.
"The audacity!" the youth screamed, making no attempt to dodge. Instead, he charged straight toward Yang Kai, the Holy Yuan inside his body surging with violent intensity, on the verge of detonation.
He knew that with his current strength, he was no match for Yang Kai whatsoever. He had no intention of preserving this body — rather, he planned to self-detonate the physical shell to create confusion and use the chaos as cover to flee.
Yang Kai watched him with a mocking expression, making no other move. His outstretched hand simply clenched tight in the empty air.
The spiritual energy of heaven and earth rushed in at his command. The youth was instantly frozen midair as though shackled by invisible chains, unable to move a muscle. The Holy Yuan that had been on the verge of exploding was just as thoroughly suppressed, calming in an instant.
Terror finally surfaced in the youth's eyes. "What — what kind of ability is this?!" he gasped.
Then, as though something had struck him, his pupils trembled as he stared at Yang Kai and shrieked, "You can command the power of the stars — you've refined the Star Origin?!"
"Not bad for the Insect Emperor — sharp eyes!" Yang Kai sneered, his hand never pausing. He simply squeezed harder.
With a thunderous explosion, the youth's body burst apart into a cloud of blood mist. From within that crimson fog, a wisp of soul force desperately fled, hurtling outward in a frantic attempt to escape.
The last time Yang Kai had joined forces with Qian Tong, they had been powerless to stop the Insect Emperor's escape. But this time Yang Kai had already become the Star Lord of the Dark Star, and he had come prepared — how could he possibly let him slip away?
A mere thought, and the space within a dozen zhang instantly solidified into an unbreakable prison. No matter how the soul force dashed and crashed in every direction, it could not break free — invisible barriers on all sides deflected it back each time.
After several failed attempts, the Insect Emperor clearly recognized that his doom was inevitable. He abandoned the futile struggle, and the visible soul force coalesced into a single mass, forming a hazy humanoid figure in the void.
The figure stared at Yang Kai, eyes dim and lifeless, its body flickering up and down like a guttering flame. In a low voice it spoke: "This Sovereign admits defeat. Spare me. Whatever you want, whatever benefits — this Sovereign will give it all."
Yang Kai curled his lip and reached out a hand toward him.
The Insect Emperor had no way to evade. The cluster of soul force was seized directly in Yang Kai's palm.
He struggled violently, but could not break free from Yang Kai's grip, reduced to screaming curses and hysterical shrieks.
Yang Kai brought his hands together and rubbed. With a piercing wail, the Insect Emperor's soul disintegrated into nothingness, vanishing completely from the world.
A jade-green, impossibly miniaturized blade-shaped Artifact and a small, exquisitely crafted bracelet remained in Yang Kai's palm.
Both emanated an eerie, imperial-level aura. The bracelet showed nothing unusual, but the green blade-shaped Artifact — when Yang Kai sent his Divine Sense probing toward it — released a strange surge of energy that severed his Divine Sense clean through.
An Emperor Treasure!
Yang Kai's eyebrows shot upward, delight crossing his face.
He was hardly lacking in Artifacts these days — he already possessed two Emperor-grade treasures: the offensive Nirvana Thunder Pearl and the Mysterious Boundary Bead.