His days with the Sword Alliance were virtually indistinguishable from his time with the Heng Luo Commerce Association—constantly on the move, traveling aboard warships to one cultivation star after another, alchemy planets, mining worlds, setting up Super Space Arrays wherever he went.
Fortunately, with Green Wood Star serving as a transit point, the time consumed wasn't excessive.
In just a year and a half, all seventeen stars of the Sword Alliance had been linked together.
Yang Kai gave one more lecture on pill refinement for the Alliance's alchemists before he was finally able to extricate himself.
At this point, only six years remained until his decade-long appointment with Ghost Ancestor.
He returned to the Dark Star!
Upon Yang Kai's return to the Sect, the entirety of Ling Xiao Sect was overjoyed. Over ten thousand Disciples lined up to welcome him home.
Yang Kai was visibly surprised to discover that the cultivation level of the Sect's warriors had risen yet another tier since his departure. Su Yan and Xia Ningshang in particular had, at some unknown point, both broken through to the Void King Realm!
After her breakthrough, Su Yan's aura had grown even more pristine and flawless. Although she had achieved her Ice Crystal Jade Physique through Cultivation rather than being born with it, this secret art from the Ice Valley of Chi Lan Star possessed extraordinary power—enough to reshape her innate constitution entirely.
The Ice Crystal Jade Physique, paired with the Ice Phoenix's origin power within her body, and wielding the Mystic Frost Divine Sword—the Su Yan of today was no mere first-stage Void King.
She could hold her own against an ordinary second-stage Void King without falling to any disadvantage.
And if she and Yang Kai were to combine their swords, slaying a third-stage Void King would likely prove no difficult task at all.
Xia Ningshang's aura had become even more natural and harmonious after her breakthrough, as though she had merged entirely with heaven and earth. Yang Kai studied her for a long while but couldn't discern any specifics—he simply felt it must be the Medicine Spirit Sacred Physique returning to its primordial simplicity.
Combat was never Xia Ningshang's forte, but in the art of alchemy, she was an absolute genius.
Having advanced to the Void King Realm, her pill refinement skills improved by leaps and bounds, and she had long since surpassed Yang Kai in this regard.
She had also returned to the Profound Sky Continent several times, witnessing the vibrant vitality and flourishing development of that land. She understood that only by elevating her own strength could she bring a brighter future to the Profound Sky Continent, and so she spared no effort in her Cultivation.
Her Cultivation was alchemy!
And the sole result was that Ling Xiao Sect now possessed a tremendous reserve of spirit pills. No matter how many medicinal ingredients flowed into the Sect, Xia Ningshang would refine them all into pills, which were then shipped across the Dark Star for sale, bringing back even more raw materials in return.
Beyond the two women, the others had also made considerable progress in their Cultivation.
However, Ye Xiyun had only recently broken through to the Void King Realm and had not managed to advance further, while Ghost Ancestor had remained in seclusion the entire time and likewise failed to take that critical step—he remained stuck at the second stage of the Void King Realm.
Yang Kai stayed within Ling Xiao Sect for a full month. He used this time to spend proper moments with his parents, his Grandmaster, the Sect's founding ancestor, and his other loved ones, and he was practically inseparable from Su Yan and Xia Ningshang as well.
It was only after that month had passed that he quietly vanished from everyone's sight.
Aside from a select few who knew where he had gone, no one was aware of his current whereabouts.
Night. Stars filled the sky.
Atop Medicine Peak in Ling Xiao Sect, Xia Ningshang sat on the stone steps outside the great hall, her chin resting in both palms, her gaze lifted to the heavens. Through that star-dusted canopy of night, she seemed to make out a familiar silhouette.
Shh, shh…
Soft footsteps approached. Xia Ningshang turned her head, and upon seeing who had come, a gentle smile bloomed on her face. "Senior Sister Su!"
Su Yan gave a slight nod and walked over to stand beside Xia Ningshang, likewise raising her eyes to gaze at some point in the sky.
One standing, one sitting—two women of breathtaking beauty together became the most magnificent sight in all the world.
A light breeze drifted past, stirring their waterfall-like tresses.
Su Yan's lovely eyes narrowed slightly as she spoke. "Are you worried about him, Junior Sister?"
Xia Ningshang slowly shook her head. "Not worried. He always returns safely."
"Then you're reluctant to let him go?" Su Yan pressed.
A faint blush crept across Xia Ningshang's cheeks. She bit her crimson lip gently and asked, "Are you not, Senior Sister?"
A rosy hue flickered across Su Yan's porcelain-smooth face as well. She shook her head. "Of course I am. But… it doesn't matter. It's always been this way."
"Yes, it's always been this way!" Xia Ningshang laughed softly. "I'm already somewhat used to it."
Su Yan said, "Men are just like that—always worrying ones. Back then, we were all nobodies in the Zhong Du World. After that came the Profound Sky Continent, and then the Star Domain. With every new place, our horizons broadened, and every time, he was the one who went ahead as the vanguard. This time is no different. Even though we don't know what the situation in the Star Boundary is, or what dangers lurk there, all we can do is make sure we don't fall too far behind in cultivation—and wait."
"Senior Sister, are you feeling a little unwilling to accept it?"
"I want to be at his side, weathering the storms together!" A shadow of melancholy flickered through Su Yan's beautiful eyes.
Thinking back on all that Yang Kai had endured over the years—there had never been a single instance where she had been at his side when danger found him. It was always the opposite: whenever she found herself in peril, he would appear before her like a god, his heroic frame shielding her from every tempest that raged.