The young man in the room was actually Shentu! Son of Io, president of the Heng Luo Chamber of Commerce, and Xue Yue's second brother!
Back when Yang Kai had been stranded on the Suspended Continent, Shentu had been there too. Both of them had been weak at the time, only at the Transcendent Realm—Shentu's cultivation had been slightly higher, but even then just the third stage of Transcendence.
The two of them had cooperated on the Suspended Continent and forged a bond of friendship.
After escaping from the Suspended Continent, Yang Kai had even followed Shentu back to the Heng Luo Chamber of Commerce's home star, Shuiyue Star. That parting had been decades ago.
Yang Kai never could have imagined running into this guy on Purple Star, so he was genuinely surprised.
Shentu stared at Yang Kai, unable to believe his own eyes. It wasn't until Yang Kai spoke up in greeting that he rubbed his eyes hard and exclaimed, "Yang Kai?"
"That's right, it's me!" Yang Kai chuckled.
"What are you doing here?" Shentu's brow furrowed in bewilderment.
"That's a long story. Brother Shentu, could you ask these… hm… gentlemen to stand down?" Yang Kai glanced at the other four warriors who were glaring at him with distinctly hostile intentions.
Shentu gave a slight nod and called out in a low voice, "Hold it, all of you! Brother Yang is an old friend of mine!"
The four Void Return cultivators exchanged glances, then withdrew their Saint Power one after another. Seeing that they no longer posed a threat, Yang Kai dismissed his Domain as well.
In an instant, everyone in the room regained their freedom.
"You've already reached the Void King Realm?" Shentu had been too stunned by Yang Kai's sudden appearance to notice before, and only now realized the truth of Yang Kai's cultivation. His face was filled with shock.
Back then, Shentu's cultivation had been marginally higher than Yang Kai's. But after all these years, he had only reached the first layer of the Void Return Realm, while Yang Kai had already ascended to the Void King Realm. The comparison left Shentu thoroughly stunned.
After all, breaking through from the Void Return Realm to the Void King Realm was no simple feat. Throughout all of history, how many brilliant talents had been stuck at that bottleneck, unable to advance a single step further, languishing in frustration?
Every warrior who managed to break through to the Void King Realm possessed not only extraordinary talent but also an indispensable combination of luck and opportunity.
"Just lucky, that's all," Yang Kai said with a light laugh.
Shentu slowly shook his head. As the son of the Heng Luo Chamber of Commerce's president, his eye for talent and breadth of experience were anything but ordinary—he certainly wasn't going to believe Yang Kai's claim of mere luck. He knew the other man was being modest, but now was hardly the time to dwell on the matter. He furrowed his brows, his expression turning grave as he looked at Yang Kai and said in a low voice, "Brother Yang, your sudden appearance here—I need to ask just one thing. Are you… friend or foe?"
"Friend," Yang Kai said earnestly. "Never foe."
Shentu's face lit up with joy, and he burst into hearty laughter. He strode forward and enveloped Yang Kai in a bear hug, slapping his back vigorously. "Brother Yang, after decades apart, I've been thinking about you constantly!"
His sudden warmth left Yang Kai feeling somewhat embarrassed.
Shentu said, "After you left Shuiyue Star aboard that warship, I only learned later that something had gone wrong. Nearly every warrior aboard perished. After that, there was no news of you at all—it weighed on my conscience heavily!"
"That wasn't your fault. It was simply an ill-timed coincidence," Yang Kai replied, feeling the warmth of Shentu's sincerity.
When he had left Shuiyue Star back then, he had casually boarded a warship, never expecting that Xue Yue would also happen to be catching a ride on the same vessel. It was precisely because of Xue Yue's presence that the warship had met its catastrophic end.
While passing through a region known as the Meteorite Sea, the ship had been struck by a powerful Artifact laid in ambush, blasting it to smithereens. Nearly every warrior aboard had been killed or wounded. Only he and Xue Yue had escaped.
It was also on that occasion that he had inadvertently discovered Xue Yue's secret—that she was a woman—which had led to everything that followed.
After a long moment, Shentu finally released Yang Kai and sighed with emotion, "All these years, I've been asking around about you. Our Third Brother seems to know something, but no matter how I pressed him, he wouldn't say a word. Push him too hard, and he'd just beat me up!"
Shentu gritted his teeth, looking indignant. "That reckless brat—no respect for his elders at all. If I weren't weaker than him, I'd have taught him a lesson long ago."
Yang Kai's lips twitched. He thought to himself that Xue Yue had lost all face in front of him last time—stripped bare and thoroughly humiliated at his hands—and you went asking her about all that? No wonder you got a beating.
"Well, now at least I've finally found you," Shentu said, exhaling a long breath as though expelling decades of pent-up frustration. He seemed visibly lighter. "I've been perfectly safe all along, Brother Shentu. No need to worry."
"Second Young Master, who is this…?" The four Void Return cultivators had been standing to the side observing. Only now did one of them speak up.
Shentu grinned and made introductions. "This is Brother Yang Kai—a man I share a life-and-death bond with. Come pay your respects at once!"
Upon hearing this, the four dared not delay. They clasped their fists in salute and called out in unison, "Greetings, Lord Yang!"
Yang Kai was a Void King Realm powerhouse and called "brother" by their Second Young Master—naturally, they had to be deferential.
Shentu stroked his chin, considering for a moment, then said, "That's right—Brother Yang is now in the Void King Realm. Shouldn't I be calling you 'Lord' as well?"
"Brother Shentu, you're too kind!" Yang Kai waved his hand dismissively. "I'm actually quite curious—what are you doing here in the first place? And… it seems like you've been detained?"
At these words, Shentu immediately grew indignant and launched into a string of curses. "Damned if I know! This time I was following a directive from the Chamber of Commerce—delivering a batch of ordered supplies to Purple Star. The moment I set foot in this Purple Star City, I got seized! Couldn't get a straight answer out of anyone about why. What rotten luck."