The three Artifacts refined and nurtured within Yang Kai's body—none of them were things that could be shown off lightly. Even within the Star Boundary, any one of those three would be enough to provoke a bloodbath.
The two Emperor Treasure Pearls went without saying. They were items passed down by Yang Yan and another Great Emperor, of the highest grade and tremendous power—enough to make cultivators below the Great Emperor realm risk their lives to seize them, and even Great Emperors would surely covet them.
As for the Dragon Bone Sword Di Cui, its grade was lower only because Yang Kai had not yet fully refined it into a true Artifact. The Dragon Bone Sword was essentially still a semi-finished product.
But its primary materials were the spinal bone and Dragon Pearl of a True Dragon.
These were body Artifacts of an ancient True Dragon, on the same level as the Dragon Scale fused within Yang Kai's body. In terms of value, even if they fell short of the finest Emperor Treasures, the difference was negligible.
So the moment that Treasure-Plundering Serpent entered his body, Yang Kai knew something bad was coming.
Losing any one of these three Artifacts was a blow he could not afford. Yet now, with all his power sealed away, he could only endure in silence the pain wrought by the Treasure-Plundering Serpent rampaging through his insides, powerless to fight back.
What's more, even at the peak of his strength, he might not have been a match for this Yan Xiuran.
Yan Xiuran stood to the side, chuckling coldly, his gaze sharp and eager—clearly not his first time doing this. He grinned menacingly. "It's not too late to change your mind. If you don't want to suffer, just cooperate quietly. You should know—Artifacts are precious, but once you're dead, no amount of Artifacts will do you any good."
Yang Kai stared at him with cold eyes, saying nothing, his glare venomous enough to engrave the man's image into the depths of his bones.
Yan Xiuran shrugged. "Stubborn to the end, are you? Then don't blame me."
As he spoke, he formed a hand seal.
The Treasure-Plundering Serpent already rampaging inside Yang Kai grew even more savage.
A scream of agony tore from Yang Kai's throat.
He could clearly trace the serpent's path as it slithered through his body. This demon beast seemed to possess some extraordinary innate ability—it had an almost unimaginable sense for tracking down Artifacts refined inside a cultivator's body. No Artifact, no matter how well hidden, could escape its detection.
It quickly located the position of the Dragon Bone Sword and dove straight toward it.
Yang Kai gritted his teeth against the pain, beads of sweat as large as soybeans sliding from his forehead. He tried to command the Dragon Bone Sword to move and evade, but he simply couldn't.
The Treasure-Plundering Serpent soon arrived at the Dragon Bone Sword's location. Without even a glance, it opened its jaws, seemingly about to swallow the sword whole and forcibly plunder it.
If it succeeded, Yang Kai's losses would be catastrophic.
But something unexpected happened. The serpent had only half completed its swallowing motion when it suddenly recoiled in alarm, retreating in panic.
It veered sharply away from the Dragon Bone Sword's position.
In that instant, Yang Kai distinctly felt a faint wave of dragon might ripple outward from the sword, and within the Dragon Pearl embedded in the sword's hilt, the residual Dragon Soul slowly opened its eyes and cast a brief, languid glance at the Treasure-Plundering Serpent.
It was precisely that sliver of dragon might and that single glance from the Dragon Soul that sent the serpent fleeing in terror.
Yang Kai's heart leaped with joy. After a moment's thought, he understood why this had happened.
It wasn't that the Dragon Bone Sword's grade was too high—it was the dragon might inherent in the sword itself and the residual Dragon Soul it possessed that naturally suppressed and intimidated the Treasure-Plundering Serpent.
It made sense when you thought about it. The True Dragon was one of the ancient Sacred Spirits. According to legend, flood dragons, pythons, and serpents were all descendants of True Dragon blood diluted and transformed over countless generations. The presence of a True Dragon naturally exerted a primal restraining force over all three.
The Treasure-Plundering Serpent was, after all, a type of serpent—how could it dare act boldly before the lingering might of its supreme ancestor? It immediately fled to a safe distance.
"Hmm?" Yan Xiuran, who had been observing the whole time, let out a soft sound of surprise. He furrowed his brow, wondering what had gone wrong with his Treasure-Plundering Serpent that it had failed to plunder the other's Artifact in the first attempt.
In the past, whenever his Treasure-Plundering Serpent was unleashed, it took no more than ten breaths to strip an Artifact from someone's body. But today, something seemed to have gone awry…
He cast a meaningful glance at Yang Kai but didn't pay it too much mind, choosing instead to continue waiting.
The Treasure-Plundering Serpent didn't dare devour the Dragon Bone Sword, so it could only search for the other Artifacts.
And its next target was none other than the Extinguishing Thunder Pearl!
The Extinguishing Thunder Pearl had no dragon might to frighten it, but the Extinguishing Divine Thunder contained within was something the Treasure-Plundering Serpent absolutely did not dare provoke. So it merely circled the Extinguishing Thunder Pearl once before slinking away in disgrace.
The Treasure-Plundering Serpent was far from capable of handling an Emperor Treasure like the Extinguishing Thunder Pearl. The only outcome of a forced plunder would be being struck by the Extinguishing Divine Thunder and blasted into ash!
It did have a measure of sentience, knowing well enough to seek fortune and avoid disaster.
Soon, it arrived before the Mysterious Boundary Bead. Perhaps because of the lessons it had learned from the Dragon Bone Sword and the Extinguishing Thunder Pearl, this time the Treasure-Plundering Serpent did not rush to devour the Mysterious Boundary Bead. Instead, it hovered nearby, observing carefully.