As the newcomer sized up Yang Kai, he watched the man with equal wariness!
His divine sense swept outward, and the other party's cultivation at the Third Layer of the Dao Source Realm was laid bare before him, completely impossible to conceal. By appearance, the man looked to be around forty — a middle-aged figure with a steady, resolute bearing — though at this moment, there was unmistakable panic and terror flickering in his eyes.
There was no hostility from the other party. Yang Kai was certain of that.
Still… this was the first time Yang Kai had encountered a warrior who actually existed within the Soul Wandering Mirror's world, so his curiosity was piqued beyond measure. A closer inspection revealed that the man's body was just like his own spiritual soul form — condensed entirely from spiritual soul energy, with no flesh and blood to speak of.
The world truly was full of wonders! Yang Kai clicked his tongue in admiration.
"If you don't want to die, run — now!" The man suddenly barked in a solemn, urgent tone.
"What?" Yang Kai frowned. The man's words came out of nowhere, making no sense whatsoever.
But the newcomer clearly had no patience for lengthy explanations. He surged the power within his body, fleeing in a particular direction, and called out once more: "If you don't run now, it'll be too late."
The moment those words landed, a sense of foreboding surged through Yang Kai. He vaguely realized that some powerful existence was chasing this man — an existence that was undoubtedly extremely dangerous and savage.
At that thought, he made an immediate decision to put as much distance between himself and this place as possible.
He had only been brought into this world by Gao Xueting for a bit of training. He had absolutely no interest in inserting himself into the grudges and entanglements between the warriors and factions native to this world — after all, the maximum time he could stay here was one month, no more.
With that thought, Yang Kai was about to take action.
But just then, an abrupt change erupted without warning.
A formidable pressure belonging solely to the Emperor Realm suddenly materialized, descending from the heavens above. The pressure was so dense it felt almost solid, and as it pressed down, it created the illusion that the very sky was collapsing.
Yang Kai's body buckled involuntarily, his expression turning extremely unsightly.
At the same time, from the corner of his eye, he caught sight of a ghostly figure materializing — appearing directly at the flank of the Dao Source Realm warrior from before.
The figure was not tall — in fact, rather small — but before it appeared, Yang Kai had sensed absolutely nothing. It was as though the figure had always been standing right there, merely undetectable all along.
The moment this Emperor Realm powerhouse of unknown origin appeared, a flash of light flickered in his hand, and a weapon resembling a dagger materialized out of thin air.
This weapon was clearly condensed from the man's own spiritual soul energy — not a spiritual soul artifact.
The dagger gleamed with a cold light, and before the middle-aged man could even react, the figure had already thrust it forward.
A soft squelch rang out, and the sound sent a chill crawling up Yang Kai's scalp.
The middle-aged warrior — a cultivator at the Third Layer of the Dao Source Realm — had no time to mount even the slightest defense before the blade pierced clean through his chest.
In the outside world, this would absolutely be a fatal wound. The strike had landed squarely over the heart — a blow to that spot would kill any warrior instantly, no matter how powerful they were, unless they had cultivated some heaven-defying secret technique or could suppress the injury with sheer cultivation. Only in those cases might one cling to life.
But within the world of the Soul Wangling Mirror, since none of the beings possessed physical bodies, the wound — though it looked severe — was not lethal.
After landing his strike, the Emperor Realm powerhouse withdrew the dagger and stood watching, his gaze cold and detached as he regarded the man. His eyes held not the slightest trace of emotion, as though he were staring at a block of wood.
The middle-aged man, by contrast, let out a pitiful, agonized cry, his body frozen rigid in place.
Yang Kai looked on and saw that the dagger still protruded from the middle-aged man's chest. From the wound itself, a strange energy radiated outward in arcs, spreading in every direction before converging into an intricate pattern — like a layer of inexplicable and powerful restriction.
It was this bizarre energy that locked down the middle-aged man's body, rendering him completely immobile.
Moreover, wisps of spiritual soul energy were seeping out from his wound, a clear sign that his power was leaking away. If left untreated, the middle-aged man's spiritual soul energy would inevitably drain out through that wound entirely.
And when that happened, he would be dead for certain.
"You are the calamitous star that has appeared in the mortal world?" the Emperor Realm powerhouse asked mildly after securing his catch.
"My lord… what did you say?" Though the middle-aged man had been ambushed and grievously wounded, he did not dare show any anger. He simply stared at the other with pleading eyes, his face blank with confusion.
"Forget it." The short-statured Emperor Realm cultivator replied with a somewhat disinterested air. "Whether you are or not, I'll know once I bring you back to the palace for interrogation."
With that, he turned his attention away from the middle-aged man, apparently done with him.
"The palace!" Those words, however, drew a shocked reaction from the wounded man. His eyes went wide as he stared at the figure before him, and after several rapid changes of expression, he asked with great difficulty: "May I ask… are you Lord Ban Qing?!"
"Oh?" Ban Qing looked at the middle-aged man with mild surprise. "You know me?"