Above the clouds, bathed in sunlight, Yang Kai sat with his eyes closed and his hands spread open. A golden radiance enveloped him, lending him an almost sacred aura.
Screams rang out one after another, and several hundred cultivators from the Great Desolation Star Domain were cut down in the time it took to finish half a cup of tea.
Tu Feng and the others returned, and upon seeing Yang Kai, their faces lit up with excitement.
Qiu Yimeng raised a finger to her lips and shushed them softly.
A moment later, Yang Kai suddenly opened his eyes and regarded everyone with a warm smile.
"Patriarch!"
"Sect Master!"
Everyone bowed in unison.
Yang Kai's gaze swept over one familiar face after another. Tu Feng, Tang Yuxian, Ying Jiu — these Yang family Blood Servants who had followed him through the succession war had grown immensely. The disciples of the Eight Great Families had shed their youthful naivety and matured. And the disciples from the various Sects of the Central World — even after decades apart, each face corresponded to a familiar name.
Yang Kai had never forgotten any of them, for they were the companions he had known during his weakest days.
Every detail of the past remained vivid in his mind.
"Your sister has returned," Yang Kai said, looking at Su Mu.
Su Mu froze, then erupted into wild joy. "My sister, she—"
"She found her own path."
Tears streamed from Su Mu's eyes. He leaped three feet into the air, excited like a monkey. It took him a long while to calm down before he looked at Yang Kai and asked, "Where is she?"
"Lingxiao Sect."
"I need to go back." Su Mu was so eager he immediately turned to leave.
Su Yan had been missing for twenty years, her fate unknown, and he had worried endlessly. Now, upon hearing that she had returned safe and sound, his excitement was boundless.
Yet his feet wouldn't move, as though bound by invisible shackles. Su Mu turned his head to look at Yang Kai and said awkwardly, "Brother-in-law, I admit I've cursed you more than a few times in my heart over the years. But since my sister's back, just treat all of that as hot air. I'll make it up to you another day — just let me go now."
"You cursed at me?" Yang Kai was taken aback.
Su Mu scratched his head and gave a sheepish laugh.
He had certainly cursed at Yang Kai — and more than a few times at that. He had always believed that Su Yan had ventured into that Void Corridor because she wanted to find Yang Kai, and that was why she had disappeared there. In his eyes, the one responsible for all of it was none other than Yang Kai himself.
"I'll have your sister deal with you later," Yang Kai snorted lightly.
"She can punish me however she wants — as long as you're both safe." Su Mu wore the brazen expression of a dead pig unafraid of boiling water, none of the wild arrogance of his youth remaining. "Can you let me go now?"
"I'll send you on your way." With a wave of his hand, Yang Kai made Su Mu vanish in an instant, leaving behind only a ripple of spatial energy.
Yang Kai turned to Qiu Yimeng and said, "Things here are settled. You should all return to the Sect. The Dark Star will have no more invaders."
"Yes!" the crowd responded in thunderous unison.
"Where are you going?" Qiu Yimeng asked urgently.
"I have some matters to attend to, but I'll be back soon." Yang Kai flashed her a gentle smile, flickered, and vanished from the spot.
Qiu Yimeng reached out, but her hand closed on empty air. A look of wistful loss settled on her face.
The others watched her with complicated expressions. Everyone knew what she felt, but alas — when the goddess dreams of love, the king has no heart to give. No one dared speak of such things.
Tu Feng grinned and said, "We can finally enjoy some peace and quiet. Elder Qiu, shall we head back?" He couldn't bear to see her so lost and forlorn, and tried to change the subject.
Qiu Yimeng nodded, her gaze turning toward Lingxiao Sect. "It is time to go back."
Yang Kai flickered and plunged deeper underground.
Before long, he reached the planet's core.
This was the place where he had once refined the Dark Star's Star Source — the very birthplace of the Dark Star's origin power.
Having been away for decades, his sudden return allowed him to sense that the Dark Star's source was reacting in unusual ways — especially during his recent attempts to commune with the Laws of Heaven and Earth.
Within the subterranean cavern at the planet's core, the moment Yang Kai entered, an irrepressible sense of homecoming washed over him — a warmth so profound that even returning to Lingxiao Sect couldn't compare. It felt as though this place was the true destination of everything, the beginning and end of all things.
The Dark Star's source power within his body grew far more active, pulsing ceaselessly.
Yang Kai stepped onto a stone platform, sat cross-legged, and emptied his mind, allowing the source power within him to gradually resonate with the Dark Star.
After a while, he lay down on the stone platform. A moment later, he shifted from lying on his back to curling on his side, his expression serene — like an unborn child cradled within its mother's womb.
As though some sound were gradually reaching his ears — at first indistinct, but slowly growing clearer.
The voices were chaotic and countless, weaving together into an ineffable symphony that resonated through his mind.