Kuang Shizong had witnessed Yang Kai wield the power of space before and knew the extent of his abilities, yet he never could have imagined that Yang Kai's spatial power could not only render himself undetectable but could also teleport an entire upper-grade Void-rank battleship to an entirely different position.
This was no longer something achievable by mortal means — it was nothing short of a miracle!
It was precisely for this reason that the devastating volley of crystal cannons had failed to accomplish anything.
In the brief moment that Kuang Shizong stood stunned, Yang Kai's low voice drifted over from the distance: "Since the Senior insists on being obstinate, then please be prepared to pay the price!"
"This is bad!" Kuang Shizong exclaimed in alarm. Though he had no idea what method Yang Kai was about to employ, his instincts screamed that something terrible was coming — whatever Yang Kai was preparing to reveal, it seemed far beyond anything he could withstand.
"Quick, raise the defenses to maximum!" Kuang Shizong roared.
The warriors manning the Void King-rank battleship dared not hesitate. A hand seal was formed and channeled directly into the formation. The next instant, a barrier of energy so dense it appeared nearly solid materialized around the exterior of the Void King-rank battleship. The barrier looked impenetrable, so sturdy that even a third-level Void King realm expert's full-power strike would absolutely fail to breach it.
But even so, Kuang Shizong's heart remained unsettled. Every pore on his body tightened, and a feeling of dread that made his heart skip a beat lingered within him.
A flicker of purple light suddenly blazed into existence ahead.
The purple light was not blinding — compared to the spectacle of hundreds of crystal cannons firing in unison, it was like a firefly competing with the full moon, utterly insignificant.
But the instant that purple light appeared, Kuang Shizong stopped breathing. His eyes went wide as he stared fixedly at that point of purple radiance, his entire body plunging as though into an ice cellar, a bone-deep chill spreading through him.
From the source of that purple light, he actually sensed a majesty that compelled submission — a majesty that extinguished any thought of resistance.
"Emperor's Might!" Kuang Shizong was, after all, a third-level Void King realm expert, and in an instant he understood exactly what kind of power that aura represented.
That purple light was emanating the might of an Emperor!
Did that not mean... the other party possessed an Emperor Treasure?
An Emperor Treasure — a thing that existed only in legend. Something as ethereal and untouchable as the Great Emperor of the Starry Sky itself, a treasure that far surpassed anything in the Void King rank!
If it truly was an Emperor Treasure, then the Void King-rank battleship would not stand a chance of surviving it.
The moment this thought took root, Kuang Shizong let out a savage howl: "Anyone who doesn't want to die, run! Now!"
Even as he spoke, he charged directly toward the hatch. Before his own warriors could activate the mechanism to open it, he threw a punch that blasted a gaping hole through the reinforced hatch, and then he shot out into the starry void.
Kuang Shizong was the supreme existence of all Purple Star. Seeing him flee in such terror, the other warriors dared not linger for even a heartbeat, scrambling after him through the breach in the hatch.
In the distance, Yang Kai stood clutching the Nirvana Thunder Pearl, his expression grave as he watched the Void King-rank battleship closing in from behind. His Saint Yuan poured into the pearl like floodwaters through a broken dam.
On the Nirvana Thunder Pearl, light flickered as a rich purple glow suffused its surface. Inside the pearl, a hair-thin arc of lightning began to dance and writhe in response to the inflow of Yang Kai's Saint Yuan.
Hisss...
At a certain moment, when the Saint Yuan had been channeled to a sufficient degree, the flickering bolt of lightning suddenly surged out of the Nirvana Thunder Pearl. Under Yang Kai's spiritual control, it streaked across the starry void like a comet cutting through the cosmos, or like a purple arrow loosed from a bowstring, hurtling straight toward Purple Star's Void King-rank battleship.
Without a sound, the purple radiance met the barrier surrounding the Void King-rank battleship. The barrier — that seemingly impenetrable shield that could withstand even a third-level Void King expert's full-power assault — silently dissolved, a massive hole melting through it as though it were nothing.
The hull was pierced clean through, leaving a gaping hole visible from one side to the other. The barrier on the far side was breached as well...
The purple radiance, its momentum undiminished, continued onward and struck one of the nine battleships trailing behind.
BOOM...
A thunderous explosion erupted. That upper-grade Void-rank battleship had not even time to dodge. The instant the purple radiance touched it, the vessel disintegrated piece by piece, crumbling to nothing in the blink of an eye.
Only at this point did a series of cracking sounds finally emanate from the lead Void King-rank battleship.
The barrier deployed on its exterior shattered like a broken mirror, countless cracks spidering across it before it vanished entirely. The massive hull itself had nearly been cleaved in two.
Fortunately, the materials consumed in the forging of this Void King-rank battleship had all been exceedingly precious. Despite sustaining such catastrophic damage, it had not detonated on the spot — but the Void King-rank battleship was for all practical purposes ruined. Repairing it would require an unknowable fortune in resources, manpower, and time.
In the vast expanse of the starry void, Kuang Shizong — the first to escape — stood frozen, staring at the scene before him. His limbs had gone cold, his face drained of all color, and he murmured unconsciously: "It really is an Emperor Treasure... it truly is an Emperor Treasure!"
He had never imagined, no matter how he wracked his mind, that Yang Kai would not only possess extraordinary strength on his own but would also command a host of bizarre and wondrous artifacts, mastery over the power of space, and even an Emperor Treasure on top of all that!
Any single warrior who possessed even one of the things Yang Kai had would be enough to dominate the starry void — yet he possessed them all!
Was there anyone in this world who could stand as his opponent? Even though Kuang Shizong's cultivation level exceeded Yang Kai's by a considerable margin, and he had long since ascended to the very pinnacle of martial arts in the Star Domain, facing the heaven-defying methods Yang Kai had unveiled one after another, a profound sense of helplessness stirred deep within his heart.
Mastery over the power of space alone rendered Yang Kai inviolable. In the entirety of the Star Domain, there was likely no one capable of killing him. Paired with all his other methods, it would be a blessing if he simply didn't go looking for trouble — who would dare provoke him?
For a fleeting moment, a thought of sheer terror surged through Kuang Shizong's mind. It was a feeling he had not experienced in many, many years — one he had all but forgotten.
He wanted to retreat!
Since he could not kill Yang Kai, and he could not withstand the strikes of an Emperor Treasure, to continue the chase was simply to invite his own destruction.