Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Yang Kai didn't make many movements — he simply closed his eyes and stood quietly in place.
But a pure and dense spiritual soul power radiated outward from within his body.
The sheer force of that soul power made every person's face drain of color.
The soul power pierced through the void, stretching out to unknown locations.
Yang Kai had grasped the power of space, and tearing through space was always the best method of escaping from a cage. But this method didn't work on Ghost Soul Island — this bizarre place existed as its own pocket of space, sealed and isolated. Unless he could pinpoint the location of the Dark Star, even if Yang Kai tore open space, he would only shuttle around inside Ghost Soul Island, never actually leaving.
However, now that he had uncovered part of Ghost Soul Island's secrets, could wield Star Source power, and was also the Star Lord of the Dark Star, determining the Dark Star's position wasn't too difficult for Yang Kai.
His divine sense leaped and danced through the void. In just a short while, he sensed the spatial barrier between Ghost Soul Island and the Dark Star.
His eyes snapped open. Space power surged wildly throughout his body. He thrust both hands forward, plunging them straight into the void.
His hands dove in like dragons emerging from the sea. Under the close attention of everyone present, they vanished directly into the empty space before them.
Gasps erupted instantly. Thousands of martial artists stared wide-eyed at this incomprehensible scene. What they witnessed was Yang Kai's two arms disappearing eerily into nothingness — a sight that completely defied their understanding.
The next moment, Yang Kai let out a deep shout.
His arms tore outward in opposite directions, and with his movement, the space before him split apart like a bolt of fabric, revealing a pitch-black rift.
The rift grew larger and larger. From within it came a horrifying aura, like some primordial beast opening its enormous maw, ready to swallow heaven and earth whole!
Only when the rift had expanded to roughly ten zhang in length did Yang Kai take a deep breath and stop tearing.
But the dense space power continued to churn, pouring out of Yang Kai's body like a sharp arrow, driving straight into the spatial rift. It carved out a void tunnel through the chaotic nothingness within, connecting Ghost Soul Island to somewhere on the Dark Star.
Sha Hu had long since been struck dumb.
A month ago, Yang Kai had said he knew the method to leave. Sha Hu hadn't doubted him, but he hadn't understood the details either.
Only now did he truly grasp what Yang Kai had been relying on.
He had actually cultivated an exceedingly rare spatial secret art, and had mastered it to such a degree that he could not only tear space apart on his own, but also construct a safe void tunnel!
Such an ability — across the entire Star Field, probably no one could match it. Sha Hu believed that even those legendary Void King realm powerhouses absolutely couldn't accomplish what Yang Kai had just done.
"If not now, then when?"
While Sha Hu stood in a daze, Yang Kai's low shout suddenly reached his ears. He snapped back to reality, swept his hand forward, and bellowed, "Follow me!"
With that, he was the first to charge into the void tunnel Yang Kai had constructed, his figure swallowed by darkness and nothingness.
The Sea Hall disciples followed close behind, vanishing one after another.
The Sea Clan members hurried to keep up as well. Qian Mo nodded slightly to Yang Kai as he passed, and the little dolphin wagged its tail, letting out a string of strange sounds toward Yang Kai, as if urging him to hurry along too.
After the Sea Hall and Sea God Palace martial artists had disappeared, the other cultivators surged forward.
The spatial rift Yang Kai had torn open was a full ten zhang long — wide enough for many people to pass through abreast. So even though thousands of cultivators were waiting, the process was extremely fast. In less than half the time it took to drink a cup of tea, Ghost Soul Island was left with only Yang Kai.
He turned his gaze in every direction, confirmed that no living person remained, and only then charged into the void tunnel himself as the last one out.
He had constructed this void tunnel with his own hands, so Yang Kai understood its path better than anyone. He let himself drift freely through the void. It seemed like just an instant, yet also as though a great deal of time had passed — and then Yang Kai's vision cleared to reveal an ocean expanse spread out below him.
Sea breezes carrying their distinctive briny scent washed over his face. The air was filled with the cries and shouts of countless martial artists — weeping, laughing, roaring in elation. They were the cultivators who had broken free from Ghost Soul Island, venting their overwhelming emotions.
From the moment they had been stranded on Ghost Soul Island, they had believed they would never leave again — that they would spend the rest of their lives toiling under the Dark Moon's exploitation. They never imagined they would see the Dark Star once more.
So when Yang Kai appeared, many of the martial artists cast grateful glances his way.
Regardless of whether Yang Kai had charged them a fee, the fact remained that they had escaped Ghost Soul Island's prison. Every one of them felt the thrilling joy of seeing the light of day again.
"Yang Kai!" Sha Hu flew over through the air. Seeing that Yang Kai was safe and sound, he couldn't help but let out a breath of relief.
Yang Kai gave a slight nod, then turned and swept his hand over the spatial rift behind him. The beast-mouth-like tear began to collapse, quickly disappearing without a trace.
Without this spatial rift, without the void tunnel, no one could use Yang Kai's work to return to Ghost Soul Island.
"Where are we? Still on the Carefree Sea?" Yang Kai asked.
"Pang Zhen and the Sea Clan people have already gone ahead to scout. We should have news soon," Sha Hu replied.