After racking his brain, Yang Kai still couldn't come up with a satisfactory explanation.
He hadn't been in the Star Boundary for long, and the number of Emperors he'd encountered could be counted on one hand. If he had truly met this red-robed woman before, he would definitely have remembered.
So the current situation could only be explained in one of two ways…
First, she was here on business, and he and Qin Zhaoyang had inadvertently stumbled into her territory.
Second, she had been waiting here for him and Qin Zhaoyang…
The second possibility was basically out of the question, so it had to be the first, right?
While Yang Kai's thoughts were racing, the red-robed woman suddenly parted her cherry lips, her voice ethereal and pleasant, and said coolly, "You dare hide inside this ship and speak to this Empress? You've got quite the nerve!"
A smile hung at the corner of her lips, yet her eyes were cold enough to pierce bone.
As she spoke, she raised one hand slightly, her slender jade fingers snapping together with a crisp *snap*.
Scorching power surged forth without warning. A fist-sized fireball materialized before her, and after a slight tremor, it shot straight toward the ship.
Both Yang Kai and Qin Zhaoyang's faces changed drastically. Without a second thought, they bolted outward.
*BOOM…*
An explosive roar rang out as the massive ship was engulfed in a towering inferno. The terrifying shockwave of power slammed into Qin Zhaoyang, rendering him unconscious on the spot. He plummeted from the sky and crashed onto the grass below, his life or death uncertain.
Yang Kai felt a searing pain across his back as well, as though several of his ribs had cracked.
He steadied himself and glanced back, only to see the entire ship wreathed in raging flames, burning so fiercely that it turned to ash in the blink of an eye.
"My Artifact!" Yang Kai howled, his heart aching beyond description!
He had finally obtained a flight-type Artifact capable of serving as transportation, and its quality had been rather decent at that. He never imagined that on its very first long-distance trip, it would be destroyed by some inexplicable Emperor.
At the sound of Yang Kai's cry, the red-robed woman's lips curled upward once more, and a barely perceptible flicker of amusement finally passed through her icy eyes. She said lightly, "Boy, shouldn't you be more worried about your own life rather than your Artifact?"
"Who exactly are you, Senior? Why would you attack us?" Yang Kai turned his head to look at her and shouted sharply.
He was utterly furious beyond measure!
This woman was an Emperor at least at the second-order level. Without so much as a word of disagreement, she had destroyed his Artifact, and judging by her tone, she had no intention of letting the matter rest — she was still going to come after him. That was something Yang Kai simply could not tolerate!
"Who this Empress is… is none of your concern." The red-robed woman smiled faintly, a smile so devastating it could bring the world to its knees. As she spoke, she took delicate lotus steps forward, employing some unknown divine ability that carried her in just two or three strides to within thirty feet of Yang Kai. She raised one jade hand, aiming it toward his position, and continued, "It's simply that this Empress… finds you an eyesore!"
With that, her jade hand pressed downward!
The laws of heaven and earth congealed in an instant as boundless pressure crashed down from the sky. Yang Kai's entire skeleton crackled and popped, as though he were about to be flattened into a meat patty by that terrifying force!
"Are you insane?" Yang Kai's expression turned uglier than it had ever been. He had never imagined that he would one day suffer such an unprovoked calamity — that someone would try to kill him simply because they found him unpleasant to look at.
As he spoke, his Source Power surged, and a four-finger-wide sword materialized in his hand. He gave a low shout, "Sword of a Million — One Man Holds the Pass!"
Sword light erupted. Sword energy hummed.
*Swish swish swish swish…*
The Million Sword appeared to split into countless copies in that instant, filling the air around Yang Kai in dense formation like a swarm of locusts before shooting upward into the sky.
"Oh? An Emperor Treasure?" A flicker of surprise crossed the red-robed woman's stunning eyes. However, she paid it no real mind, merely taunting, "With such meager cultivation, how much of this Emperor Treasure's true power can you possibly bring to bear?"
*Boom boom boom boom…*
As she spoke, bursts of blinding light erupted across the sky — the countless streams of sword energy clashing against that invisible, overwhelming pressure.
But Yang Kai had only refined the Million Sword for a short time, and his cultivation was not high enough. Though the sword energy appeared ferocious, it was all bluster with no substance. The moment it came into contact with the boundless pressure, it dissolved into nothing, one stream after another.
The terrifying pressure continued downward, blanketing the very spot where Yang Kai stood.
"How much power I can bring to bear isn't important," Yang Kai's voice suddenly rang out from behind the red-robed woman. "What matters is… I never expected that strike to actually block your technique!"
He gripped the sword with both hands, channeling every ounce of his brute strength, and swung it viciously at the red-robed woman's slender neck.
The red-robed woman seemed to be taken aback as well, letting out a delicate cry, "Instant Movement? Spatial power? Now that's rather interesting…"
Even as she spoke, she actually turned around to face him, gazing at him with a amused smile and showing absolutely no intention of dodging.
The blade passed cleanly through her neck, cleaving her body in two!
Yet Yang Kai felt none of the joy that should have come with a successful strike. Instead, as if stung by a scorpion, he rocketed backward.
At the same time, the red-robed woman materialized in a ghostly manner right beside where he had originally stood, pressing one finger into the afterimage he had left behind.
"You dodged even that?" The red-robed woman's delicate brows furrowed slightly as she murmured, "This Empress has actually underestimated you…"