Atop the ice cliff, as the snow-white radiance vanished, ten-thousand-year silence reclaimed the summit. Yang Kai stood pale-faced and gasping for breath, staggering forward a few steps to retrieve the bracelet Artifact he had tossed aside earlier, his face etched with the look of a man who had narrowly escaped death.
His ability to turn disaster into triumph this time—and even force the insect mother's body to suffer the backlash of its own secret art, killing it in the process—was entirely thanks to the power of this bracelet Artifact.
An Emperor Treasure. The Insect-Slave Bracelet!
The Insect Emperor's life-bound Artifact, bearing a natural suppression over all manner of strange and exotic insects in heaven and earth.
The Insect Emperor had fallen from grace and was slain by Yang Kai on the Dark Star. The two Emperor Treasures he possessed had become Yang Kai's spoils of war. Alongside this bracelet that symbolized his status as the Insect Emperor, there was also a Soul-Severing Blade.
However, both Emperor Treasures were far too high-grade, and their power was fundamentally incompatible with the energy within Yang Kai's body, making it impossible for him to refine or attune to either of them.
Both had remained stored away in the Black Book's space all this time. He had never once used the Soul-Severing Blade, though the Insect-Slave Bracelet was now seeing its second deployment.
The first time had been in the Lost Land, when Yang Kai and Xue Yue were being chased by countless Illusory Void Butterflies. At that time, he had used the Insect-Slave Bracelet's innate miraculous ability to repel the swarm—an attack that even Void King realm cultivators dreaded immensely.
That first use had shown Yang Kai just how extraordinary the Insect-Slave Bracelet's effects could be in certain situations.
Just now, a sudden flash of inspiration had reminded him of this unique Artifact, and he had brought it out on a whim to test it. The result had turned out to be remarkably effective.
Yang Kai stared at the Insect-Slave Bracelet in a daze, his expression tinged with puzzlement. Even granting that the bracelet was a treasure once wielded by the Insect Emperor and naturally suppressed exotic insects, the insect mother's strength was hardly insignificant. How could a mere suppression from this bracelet cause it to suffer such a devastating backlash that it died on the spot?
He couldn't quite make sense of it.
After a moment, he put the bracelet away. His figure flickered, and he vanished from the spot, entering the Small World within the Mysterious Boundary Bead.
Releasing his divine sense for a brief sweep, Yang Kai immediately located where the snow-white radiance that had emerged from the insect mother's body now resided.
He flickered again, and with a mere thought, arrived at another location within the Small World.
Here, the mountains were lush, the waters clear, and the air utterly serene. The only exception was a beam of snow-white light hurtling through the sky at great speed, its shape resembling a long sword, darting about like a headless fly.
Yang Kai concealed himself in the shadows, not revealing himself immediately. Instead, he silently observed it.
Now that this thing had been collected into the Mysterious Boundary Bead, it was effectively within Yang Kai's domain. Even if it truly possessed the strength of an Emperor Realm master, he had nothing to fear.
The longer he watched, the more its form reminded him of Su Yan's Mystic Frost Divine Sword—which only further corroborated the various speculations he had been entertaining about Bing Yun, the founding ancestor of Ice Heart Valley.
"Is this the insect mother's soul?" Yang Kai mused inwardly. But he quickly realized that wasn't quite right. This snow-white radiance shaped like a sword was indeed somewhat similar to a soul—a structural entity composed entirely of energy, with a trace of nascent consciousness. Yet it was absolutely not the insect mother's soul. Rather, Yang Kai sensed a piercing aura of sword intent emanating from within.
What exactly was this thing?
After observing for quite some time, Yang Kai confirmed that once separated from the insect mother's physical body, this thing posed absolutely no threat to him in his current state. Only then did he calmly reveal himself.
The moment Yang Kai appeared before it, the sword-shaped snow-white radiance let out a sharp, resonant ring. A frigid conceptual intent and the power of natural law instantly enveloped the blade, its tip trembling as it pointed directly at where Yang Kai stood.
"You're overestimating yourself," Yang Kai said, slowly shaking his head. He extended his hand and swept it gently forward. The ambient energy between heaven and earth shifted abruptly, and the frigid intent and law power that had been gathering with increasing ferocity around the blade scattered apart like soap bubbles.
Within this world of the Mysterious Boundary Bead, just as he had been on the Dark Star, Yang Kai was the sovereign. With a single thought, he could alter anything he wished.
Wanting to fight him here was an act of sheer foolishness.
The enigmatic snow-white radiance clearly had no concept of this. Having its killing move dispersed by Yang Kai, it showed no signs of discouragement and continued its efforts, attempting to unleash that snow-pure-clear-sky sword art once more.
"Take a rest, won't you?" Yang Kai clicked his tongue, extending a finger toward it. Visible energy transformed into rope-like strands that wrapped around the entity so tightly not a sliver of gap remained.
He beckoned with his other hand, and the bound snow-white radiance immediately flew into his grasp.
Yang Kai closed his eyes and probed it carefully with his senses.
He wanted to know exactly what this thing was.
As time passed, his initially impassive expression gradually shifted—surprise, astonishment, shock, disbelief... a kaleidoscope of emotions flickered across his face.
A long while later, he finally opened his eyes, staring at the snow-white radiance still struggling futilely in his hand yet utterly unable to break free from its bonds—as though he had seen a ghost in broad daylight.
"It's actually a Sentient Sword Intent? Such a thing exists in this world?" Yang Kai's expression was one of sheer shock.
This snow-white, sword-shaped radiance was not, as he had initially assumed, the insect mother's soul, nor was it the soul of any living creature. Rather, it was a Sentient Sword Intent that had spontaneously awakened from the sword art Snow Purity Under Heaven.
In this world, it was not only flesh and blood that could be called a living being and possessed true intelligence.