The moment this thought crossed his mind, Xu Wei broke into a cold sweat, and his expression as he regarded Yang Kai turned grave.
His instincts told him that Yang Kai was far from ordinary—his performance at the Spirit Medicine Valley in the Lost Lands had proven as much. If he were just an average cultivator, how could he have withstood a strike from Zi Long?
And now, he had effortlessly neutralized his full-powered eruption. This kid...
Xu Wei swept his Divine Sense over Yang Kai with a mix of shock and uncertainty, and his face immediately changed drastically. He exclaimed in horror, "You... you... you've actually advanced to the Void King realm!"
"What?!" Zi Donglai's face turned ashen with fury, his cold, piercing gaze fixed on Yang Kai as though he wished to bore through his body and kill him with his eyes alone.
The Void King realm! That bastard had actually reached the Void King realm.
He had advanced to the Void King realm before him!
Before Xue Yue, before Gu Jianxin too!
The three most celebrated young prodigies of the Star Field had all been left in his wake. And here he had been, fantasizing about the day he would surpass Xue Yue and Gu Jianxin to become the leader of the younger generation. How laughable.
This bastard right before him had already achieved that very goal Zi Donglai had been striving for all these years—without anyone even noticing.
Unforgivable! No one else in this world was allowed to do this but him... Zi Donglai's chest seethed with rage so intense it nearly consumed him. With a twisted, ferocious expression, he roared, "Xu Wei, what are you standing there for? Kill him! Now!"
Jolted by the shout, Xu Wei finally snapped back to his senses. His expression solemn, he said, "Boy, you are the most talented and most terrifying young man I have ever encountered. If circumstances were different, this old man would gladly befriend you. But since the Young Master has given his orders, you will die here today—without a doubt!"
"So much talk." Yang Kai cast him a cold glance and curled his lip in disdain.
Xu Wei snorted coldly. "You've only just broken through to the Void King realm—you should be spending your time consolidating your cultivation. Charging out here so recklessly is practically suicide. This old man will show you what a true Void King realm cultivator looks like!"
With those words, he abruptly released his Domain, engulfing Yang Kai within it in an instant.
Xu Wei smiled smugly and walked toward Yang Kai step by step, saying lightly, "Within this Domain, I am master of all things—including your life!"
"You think you're the only one with a Domain?" Yang Kai scoffed, extending a finger and pointing forward. "I have one too!"
An invisible force radiated from his fingertip, and the surrounding space crackled with sharp, snapping sounds, as though something were shattering.
As the sounds echoed, Xu Wei staggered as if struck by a devastating blow. His already aged face seemed to grow decades older in an instant, and his complexion drained of color. He cried out in disbelief, "How is this possible? Your Domain... how can it be so dense? How can it possibly suppress a Domain I have spent years cultivating? You've only just broken through—this can't be real!"
He screamed and shouted in a frenzy, unable to accept what he was seeing.
"If length of time equaled strength, then there would be no difference between geniuses and mediocrities in this world. Accept your fate, old man." Yang Kai waved his hand, and his Domain surged outward, shattering Xu Wei's Domain into dust before engulfing his opponent within its own.
"Secret Art—Moon Blade!" Yang Kai flicked his fingers in rapid succession, and crescent-shaped blades of space hurtled outward, sweeping toward Xu Wei.
These were Space Blades he had refined after his mastery of spatial power had advanced—an enhanced version of his former Space Blades. Though their form was identical, both the destructive force and the profound intent contained within were entirely different.
Over a dozen Moon Blades sealed off Xu Wei's escape routes, rapidly enlarging in his field of vision.
Xu Wei was terrified out of his wits. He bit down on the tip of his tongue and spat out a mouthful of essence blood, driving his Sacred Yuan in a desperate attempt to flee.
Yang Kai flashed him a cold smile, his body shuddering as the might of his Domain abruptly intensified.
Xu Wei felt as though an enormous mountain had been dropped onto his entire body—impossibly heavy. He drove his Sacred Yuan to its limit and barely managed to move, but just as he was about to dodge the Moon Blades, Yang Kai opened his mouth, and thunder erupted from his tongue.
Secret Art—Startling Void Roar!
It was the innate divine ability of the ancient demon beast, derived from the Inner Core of the Startling Void Beast that Yang Kai had refined. Though he could not unleash its full power, it was more than sufficient to disrupt Xu Wei.
Sure enough, a thunderous boom exploded right beside Xu Wei's ears. The sound carried the intent of spatial power, shifting between near and far, making it impossible for him to pinpoint its source. In that moment of hesitation, the Moon Blades arrived before his eyes.
"No!" Xu Wei screamed.
The scream cut short. Over a dozen Moon Blades pierced clean through his body, and Xu Wei's entire form burst apart. From within the gaping wounds, his still-writhing internal organs were clearly visible.
Watching all of this in silence, Yang Kai raised an eyebrow and murmured to himself, "Not bad!"
He had meant to test the results of his recent comprehension, which was why he had gone nearly all-out in his battle with Xu Wei, using only the secret arts he had recently mastered.
Banishment, Moon Blade, and Startling Void Roar—all were insights he had only recently gained.
And with all three deployed at once, even a veteran Void King realm cultivator like Xu Wei had been killed.
The difficulty of defending against spatial secret arts could be seen from this alone.