Not long after, Liu Xianyun arrived.
She and Yang Kai had arrived in the Star Boundary in the same batch. Although they hailed from different Star Domains, they had supported each other for a time back in the Jade Feather Sect and shared the bond of senior and junior fellow disciples. Having survived life-and-death trials together in the Silence Void Secret Realm, their connection was naturally far deeper than most.
After emerging from the Silence Void Secret Realm, Liu Xianyun had remained in Ice Heart Valley — a fitting home for her.
She hadn't come to Yang Kai for anything in particular. She simply missed him after years apart, and wanted to catch up.
Through their lengthy conversation, Yang Kai learned she was doing quite well. She had officially taken up residence under Bing Yun's tutelage, becoming Bing Yun's final closed-door disciple.
She absolutely had the qualification for it. After all, like Yang Kai himself, she was a martial artist who had clawed her way up from the lower Star Domains. Back in the Great Desolation Star Domain, her aptitude had been no inferior to Yin Lesheng's — the only differences lay in her background and the resources she possessed, which was why she had fallen a step behind him.
If Yin Lesheng could enter the Yellow Springs Sect and become the Sect Master's Personal Disciple, then Liu Xianyun could certainly do the same.
The reason her Cultivation progress had been slow these years was primarily the hardship of life — she simply hadn't had enough Cultivation resources.
Now, as Bing Yun's closed-door disciple, she sat upon a wealth of Cultivation resources and had a fine teacher guiding her. Her latent potential was beginning to show itself at last. In just a few short years, she had already advanced to the Dao Source Second Stage and was currently pressing toward the third. Though her cultivation as an aunt-senior was still lower than many of her nephews and nieces in the sect, her future shone bright as the dawn.
Within Ice Heart Valley, she got along wonderfully with all the sisters there. She had long since made this place her home.
Hearing all of this, Yang Kai felt relieved.
After that, Liu Xianyun asked Yang Kai about his own affairs over the past few years.
There wasn't all that much to say. He had spent the greater part of those years in the Shattered Star Sea, and after leaving, he had immediately rushed to the Eastern Region's Barren Ancient Land to search for Little Little, where he had encountered the Four Great Sovereigns.
Yang Kai picked a few things to recount, and Liu Xianyun listened with rapt attention. She realized that no matter the time or place, Yang Kai's life was always this exciting — full of thrills and twists and turns.
"Oh, right, Junior Sister — I have something for you." Yang Kai suddenly spoke up, as if remembering something.
Liu Xianyun asked curiously, "What is it?"
Yang Kai said solemnly, "Relax your body and mind. Don't resist."
Hearing this, Liu Xianyun nodded gently, took a deep breath, and let her entire being go slack. She even closed her eyes.
In this moment, she was completely unguarded against Yang Kai. In other words, if he had wished her harm, he could have killed her with ease.
Were she not a hundred percent certain of Yang Kai, she would never have done this.
Yang Kai rummaged through his Small World for a moment, and soon flipped his hand over. On his palm, a ball of hazy, luminous light appeared. The moment it emerged, it radiated a wondrous aura of origin essence, and upon closer inspection, the orb seemed to contain countless points of light, like a starry sky shrunk down countless times.
Puzzled, Liu Xianyun opened her eyes abruptly.
When she saw what lay in Yang Kai's hand, she froze. "Senior Brother Yang — what is that?"
Yang Kai said gravely, "Star Origin!"
Liu Xianyun's delicate frame trembled, her voice tinged with shock. "Star Origin?!"
She had come from the Great Desolation Star Domain and naturally knew what a Star Origin was — the very foundation of a star. A vibrant Star Origin like this one could only be born from a complete Cultivation Star over the course of hundreds of millions of years. Without its Star Origin, a star would become a dead world.
In the Star Domains, only by refining a Cultivation Star's Star Origin could one become a Star Lord.
But becoming a Star Lord was no simple feat. Even a Void King of the Third Stage could not necessarily refine one safely. Across the countless Star Domains, who knew how many Void Kings had perished in the attempt, their bodies destroyed and their Dao extinguished.
Back then, across the entirety of the Great Desolation Star Domain, there had been only a handful of Star Lords — Yin Lesheng among them.
Liu Xianyun had once considered refining a Star Origin in the Great Desolation Star Domain to claim the mantle of Star Lord herself. But unfortunately, in their domain, the Yellow Springs Sect held absolute authority, and she had no access whatsoever to the process.
After arriving in the Star Boundary, she had learned that Star Origins were exceedingly rare here — something ordinary people could hardly ever hope to encounter.
She had believed she would never cross paths with a Star Origin in her entire life. Yet here one was, floating right in front of her.
"This… this came from the Shattered Star Sea?" Liu Xianyun asked, her voice trembling.
"Mm." Yang Kai nodded.
In the Shattered Star Sea, he had reaped considerable rewards — comprehending Time Flies, obtaining the True Phoenix Fire and the Mountain and River Bell, witnessing the clash between the Red Dust Great Emperor and the Heaven Devouring Great Emperor. This Star Origin was among those treasures as well.
"No, no — this is far too precious. I can't accept it." Liu Xianyun shook her head hurriedly, waving her hands in refusal.
Yang Kai smiled. "Why can't you? It's just a single Star Origin. We knew each other when neither of us had anything to our names, and now your senior brother has achieved some measure of success in his Cultivation. Is this one gift you'd turn down?"
Though tempted, Liu Xianyun still shook her head firmly. "Senior Brother Yang, if you offered anything else, your junior sister would never refuse. But a Star Origin… I can't take it. Refine it yourself! As long as you can absorb it, your future Cultivation will be twice as efficient with half the effort. I've heard that martial artists who refine a Star Origin develop an extraordinary affinity for the laws of heaven and earth!"
"I know all that, of course. But I am already a Star Lord — didn't you know?" Yang Kai smiled faintly.