Only an Emperor Treasure could possess such terrifying destructive power, reducing the Yellow Springs Nether Domain Shield to a mere shadow of its former potency in a single blow. Other Artifacts of the same Dao Source grade simply had no such might.
Just who was this kid? Not only did he possess actual Dragon Scales that he'd refined into his body, but he also wielded an Emperor Treasure. Hadn't he said his Star Region had been sealed off for tens of thousands of years? How could he have such extraordinary foundations?
In that instant, Yin Lesheng's eyes trembled violently.
Pfft...
Unable to hold it back, he opened his mouth and spat out a mouthful of blood.
Only now did he discover with horror that the Emperor Treasure's strike had not only shattered his Yellow Springs Nether Domain Shield but had also dealt him severe injuries. Inside his body, a force that annihilated all things was wreaking havoc on his flesh and meridians, and no matter how he channeled his power, he couldn't suppress it.
Yin Lesheng immediately grew tense, though he also felt a measure of relief.
He was grateful that Yang Kai's strength was too low to unleash the Emperor Treasure's full might. Otherwise, that single strike would have reduced even Dao Source realm powerhouses to ash, let alone himself.
That Emperor Treasure... he had to seize it no matter what. If the Dragon Scales had already been worth less than the Yellow Springs Nether Domain Shield, then this Emperor Treasure was worth even more than the Dragon Scales. It was the kind of supreme treasure that even in the Star Realm was virtually impossible to come by!
Yin Lesheng reached out and frantically tapped pressure points all over his body, desperately circulating his power to suppress his injuries. At the same time, he pulled out handfuls of spirit pills and stuffed them into his mouth as if gorging himself.
Meanwhile, he shifted his footing and, dragging his gravely wounded body, charged at Yang Kai with terrifying speed!
But just then, a startled cry suddenly rang out from nearby. Liu Xianyun called out, "Senior Brother Yin!"
Yin Lesheng froze and turned to look, his face draining of color.
He saw that at some point, a massive chasm had appeared in the Starlight Passage. The chasm was like an insurmountable barrier stretching across the passage, or rather like a rift—inside the rift lay nothing but primordial chaos and void. Countless streams of starlight were being drawn by some unknown force, surging into the rift.
Crack, crack, crack...
Countless more fissures appeared throughout the Starlight Passage.
In that instant, the entire Starlight Passage looked like a shattered mirror, with fissures interlocking like jagged teeth, crisscrossing in every direction.
"Damn it!" Yin Lesheng's face went pale. He knew that the Emperor Treasure's strike had shaken the stability of the Starlight Passage. This place would collapse very soon.
"Curse it all!" Yin Lesheng swore furiously. This outcome was something he could never have anticipated. He had planned to wait here patiently for five years, converting all the Sacred Yuan in his body into Source Power, and with the impenetrable defense of the Yellow Springs Nether Domain Shield, he could have killed anyone who dared come—be it man or god!
Who could have guessed that a variable like Yang Kai would show up?
The Starlight Passage was the path that warriors from various Star Regions used to reach the Star Realm. In general, those who entered were only at the Void King realm, and no matter how much they struggled, they couldn't possibly affect the passage's stability.
But when Yang Kai invoked the power of an Emperor Treasure, it was a different story entirely. The Annihilation Thunder Pearl contained the power of an Emperor—how could the Starlight Passage possibly withstand that?
That was why the current situation had come to pass.
"Senior Brother Yin, what's happening here?" Feng De's face was also pale. Feeling the Starlight Passage crumbling, he panicked like a headless fly, his heart no longer in the mood to slaughter Ancestor Ghost and the others.
"This place is going to collapse," Yin Lesheng said quickly. Then he turned and fixed Yang Kai with a vicious glare. "Since we can't take them alive, then they all have to die. Kill them, now!"
His last command was directed at Feng De and Liu Xianyun.
Yang Kai's expression changed and he roared, "Over my dead body!"
As he spoke, ignoring his own depleted state, he frantically erupted the Golden Blood within his body, replenishing the energy that had been drained by the use of the Annihilation Thunder Pearl. Dense waves of space power surged outward.
Yang Kai, looking utterly insane, slapped his palm violently into the void.
Layer after layer of space power rippled outward like waves, imposed upon the already unstable Starlight Passage, which instantly became even more fragile. In just two breaths, it shattered completely.
Enormous spatial rifts materialized, like savage beasts ready to devour the unwary, their grotesque forms looming into view.
Yin Lesheng seemed to realize what Yang Kai was planning and charged at him madly.
Yang Kai ignored him entirely, immersing himself in his control over space power, using his own strength to influence the transformation of the Starlight Passage.
Crash! As if a mirror had been smashed to pieces, the entire Starlight Passage broke apart in an instant, and countless spatial rifts formed all at once.
"Yang Kai!" Ao suddenly screamed as a spatial rift swallowed the ground where he and the others stood. The moment his voice left his lips, they vanished into the primordial void.
Yang Kai suppressed the myriad discomforts wracking his body and sent out a thread of divine sense, thrusting it into the spatial rift to guide Ao and the others on their path.
A delicate cry rang out as Liu Xianyun was swallowed by another spatial rift. An instant later, Feng De's figure disappeared as well.
"Screech..." The fire bird Liu Yan finally broke free, beating her wings and shooting toward Yang Kai. But what blocked her path was also a rift—a rift like a celestial river that separated her from Yang Kai.
Liu Yan's eyes were filled with desperate urgency, but no matter how she tried, she couldn't reach Yang Kai's side. Three breaths later, she too was devoured by the spatial rift.