From beginning to end, there had been not the slightest trace of cultivation on Yang Kai's body. All he relied on was the sheer power of his physical body—even He Yunxiang had assumed he came from a body-tempering background.
But at this very moment, the aura of Saint Yuan was radiating from within Yang Kai.
No, not Saint Yuan. That aura… was far more pure, far more profound than Saint Yuan.
What kind of power was this?
The aura climbed steadily, breaking through one threshold after another until it reached the first stage of the Void King realm, where it stabilized.
Yang Kai shook his head helplessly. He had just about hit his limit. In this damned place, the most he could muster was Void King realm power—any more than that, and the laws of heaven and earth might very well turn their repulsion against him.
Yan Luo's expression had grown graver than ever. He had assumed this was nothing more than a muscle-bound brute, not worth worrying about. But he never expected the man had been hiding his true strength all along. A formidable physical body plus Void King first-stage cultivation… now things were getting complicated.
Yet in short order, the worry in his eyes swept clean away. It was only the first stage of the Void King realm—not exactly overwhelming power. He was the Star Lord of the Taiyi Star! How could he possibly be afraid of this fellow?
"Head Yan, are you ready?" Yang Kai looked up at Yan Luo.
Those pitch-black eyes settled on him, and Yan Luo's heart lurched. An unimaginable sense of danger enveloped his entire body. His vision blurred, and suddenly a figure had appeared before him—who else but that young man?
Hss—Yan Luo drew a sharp breath. He hadn't even perceived how the other had closed the distance. Instinct drove him to channel the Star Origin's power, and he vanished from the spot in an instant.
The next moment, he materialized thirty zhang away. He had no time to catch his breath before the young man materialized right before him once again, the distance between them barely a foot. That easy, smiling expression sent a chill crawling down Yan Luo's spine.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…
His position shifted again and again, cold sweat gradually beading on Yan Luo's forehead until his robes were drenched through.
He relied on all manner of conveniences afforded by his Star Lord status, able to reposition himself at will—yet this young man clung to him like a maggot to bone. No matter what he did, he couldn't shake him. The moment he steadied himself, the young man was already on him, never more than a foot away.
His trump card had become utterly useless in the blink of an eye.
The crowd of Yan family powerhouses watching from below were already agape. The two figures in the sky shifted positions so fast they could barely follow. In the span of a dozen breaths, the pair had flickered and darted dozens of times, all while maintaining the exact same rhythm.
"The Space Laws!" Yan Luo blurted in shock.
As a Star Lord, he sensed the shifts in the world's power far more keenly than others. Around that young man's body, a clear fluctuation of spatial force rippled outward—the unmistakable sign of one who had comprehended the Space Laws.
Unlike his own instant relocations, which came from his status as Star Lord, this fellow's ability was entirely his own.
Yan Luo was thoroughly panicking now. He had believed himself to be in an unassailable position, never imagining the other had such a means of countering him.
A fist rapidly swelled before his eyes. Yan Luo wanted to dodge, but suddenly the space around him had turned thick and viscous, and that fist pressed toward him like a looming mountain, blotting out all light. No matter how he tried to evade, it was impossible to escape. His chest tightened unbearably.
BOOM!
Blood sprayed into the air as Yan Luo plummeted like a falling star, crashing into the rubble of the Yan family's great hall and sending up a plume of dust.
Stars danced before his eyes, and he felt as though his nose had been flattened. When he managed to open them, the shadow of a towering figure fell over him.
"Spare me!" Yan Luo cried out, his voice ragged with desperation, all traces of his earlier composure gone. This man truly possessed the power and the ability to kill him—and from the look of it, he hadn't even used his full strength. Yan Luo could barely imagine what it would look like if this man unleashed everything he had.
Where the hell had this man come from? Was he insane?
If you were this powerful, why not just show it from the start instead of going through all this? Look at the state of the Yan family today—not only had the Head been beaten senseless without the ability to fight back, but an Elder at the third stage of the Void King realm had been killed outright.
Yan Luo wasn't the only one thinking this. Every Yan family powerhouse harbored the same thought. Especially Yan An, whose mouth was flooded with a bitterness that surpassed even eating raw coptis root. Yan Qing had died at this man's hands, and all of them had pinned their hopes on the Head getting revenge—yet who would have guessed that their supposedly invincible Head would be crying for mercy in less time than it took to drink a cup of tea.
Was the Head too cowardly? Not at all—he simply knew when to cut his losses.
Regardless, the Yan family's face had been utterly destroyed today. Fortunately, there were no outsiders here, so word wouldn't spread. Otherwise, the blow to their reputation and standing would have been devastating.
"I think we can have a nice chat now," Yang Kai gazed down at Yan Luo.
"Whatever the master wishes to know, Yan will hold nothing back." Yan Luo forced a thin smile onto his face.
…
On the slope above the halfway point, inside another great hall, fine fragrant tea was served. He Yunxiang stood obediently behind Yang Kai, looking for all the world like a maidservant.
Yan Luo, having changed into fresh robes and tidied himself up, strode out from the back chamber and bowed deeply. "Greetings, master." After speaking, he shot Yan An a meaningful glance.
Yan An approached with an ingratiating smile, holding a box in both hands, and presented it respectfully. "Master, this is your Spirit Pill." The box opened to reveal the Origin Condensation Pill resting quietly within.
He Yunxiang reached out and took it, letting out a derisive snort. "Didn't the Second Elder just say it had been lost?"
A flicker of embarrassment crossed Yan An's face, and he explained quickly, "That was nothing but nonsense. Yan Qing acted of his own accord—he has no relation to our Yan family whatsoever. Please forgive us, master."