On the arena platform, Yang Kai was fierce as a tiger, his aura soaring like a rainbow. With two punches, he had already destroyed Feng Xi's defensive Artifact. Feng Xi, on the other hand, stumbled unsteadily, blood spurting from his mouth in a sorry state.
Before Feng Xi could regain his footing, Yang Kai rushed forward and brought down a third punch.
Feng Xi's eyes went wide as he felt a wave of death bearing down on him, his face turning deathly pale.
He realized he had greatly underestimated Yang Kai's strength. The moment his opponent struck, the attacks came in an endless barrage, leaving him completely unable to fight back. Had he known, he should have unleashed his killing blow from the very beginning. He had assumed there was absolutely no gap in strength between himself and Yang Kai — even if there was, it would be him suppressing the other. Yang Kai couldn't possibly be his match. But now it seemed he had been far too naive.
Watching the fist descend, Feng Xi held his breath, his pupils shrinking to the size of pinpoints.
Just then, an unexpected change occurred.
Yang Kai, who had been attacking with overwhelming momentum, suddenly changed expression as if struck by a sneak attack. He retracted his striking fist, then leaped back gracefully, his gaze falling heavily on the back of his hand with a solemn expression.
The aura of death dissipated at once, but Feng Xi let out a cry as well, shifting his gaze to his own arm. The next instant, he understood what had happened, and ecstasy flooded his face.
Meanwhile, Yang Kai stared wide-eyed, his gaze fixed rigidly on the back of his hand.
Just moments ago, when he was about to kill Feng Xi, a scorching sensation had suddenly flared on the back of his hand. Thinking he had been ambushed, he abandoned the killing blow and retreated immediately, prioritizing his own survival.
Anyone who could sneak up on him without his noticing had to be an Emperor Realm powerhouse.
What puzzled him, though, was that even Bing Yun didn't seem to have noticed anything.
But after pulling back to investigate, Yang Kai realized things were not what he had imagined. The back of his hand was still blazing hot, yet there was no trace of an attack — and it was growing hotter by the second, as though he had plunged his hand deep into molten magma.
Just as he was growing suspicious, wondering what on earth was happening, Feng Xi suddenly let out a sharp cry across the arena, appearing to be in excruciating pain.
Yang Kai looked up to see Feng Xi clutching a spot on his arm with one hand, teeth gritted as he growled low.
He wasn't the only one — from the surrounding spectator stands, cries of alarm rang out one after another.
What was going on? Yang Kai's expression grew grave. Confused, he glanced toward the Ice Heart Valley group and noticed that Zi Yu was also pressing her hand against her arm, sweat pouring down her forehead.
But Yang Kai keenly noticed something: all those experiencing the phenomenon were young people — only about a dozen or so, both male and female, and all Dao Source Realm martial artists.
The sudden upheaval on both the arena and the spectator stands stunned the Emperor Realm powerhouses. None of them knew what had happened to these younger cultivators. Bing Yun lost all interest in tangling with Feng Xuan and immediately looked toward Yang Kai with concern.
An Ruoyun, Sun Yunxiu, and the others crowded around Zi Yu, asking what was wrong.
Before they could get to the bottom of it, tiny motes of starlight suddenly began to drift from the hands and arms of the dozen or so affected young people, gathering like countless fireflies drifting gracefully skyward. The sight was breathtakingly beautiful.
"This is..." Bing Yun's beautiful eyes narrowed, seeming to understand at once.
The powerful cultivators from the great Sects of the Northern Region trembled with excitement, pointing at the starlight, lips quivering.
The burning sensation on the back of his hand suddenly vanished. When Yang Kai looked again, he found a five-pointed star-shaped mark on his hand.
A flash of insight struck his mind, and he murmured, "A Star Mark!"
This five-pointed star mark was clearly a Star Mark of the Shattered Star Sea — a trophy he had obtained in the Four Seasons Land.
Back then, he had taken the place of a Green Sun Divine Temple disciple to enter the Four Seasons Land, earning a total of seven Star Marks. He had later handed six of them over to the Green Sun Divine Temple, keeping one five-pointed Star Mark for himself.
So much time had passed that the Star Mark had shown no signs of activity. Yang Kai had nearly forgotten about it entirely.
Yet now, at the critical moment of his life-and-death battle with Feng Xi, an anomaly had appeared.
Star Marks were the entry tokens to the Shattered Star Sea. Only those who possessed a Star Mark were qualified to enter. And the Shattered Star Sea was rumored to be the place where the greatest powerhouse of the Star Realm — the Heavenly Devouring Emperor — had perished. Some even said that his inheritance lay hidden within, drawing countless cultivators to seek it out.
Unfortunately, each time the Shattered Star Sea opened, Emperor Realm cultivators could not find a way in. Only those below the Emperor Realm were permitted to enter.
The Heavenly Devouring Emperor had fallen tens of thousands of years ago. Over those millennia, countless Sects from all four regions of the Star Realm had dispatched their finest Disciples into the Shattered Star Sea, hoping to uncover the secret of the Heavenly Devouring Emperor's legacy — the mystery behind how he had once dominated the Star Realm and stood invincible under heaven. But not a single one had ever succeeded.