Cuiwei Star was not considered a top-tier cultivation star within the entire Heng Luo Star Domain. It wasn't even the main star of any of the stronger powers, yet it enjoyed considerable fame across the domain.
There were two reasons for its renown. The first was the existence of a forbidden zone called the Blood Prison, which opened once every hundred years, allowing Return Void Realm cultivators to enter and participate in the Blood Prison Trials, reaping numerous benefits and opportunities while catching a glimpse of the mysteries behind breaking through to the Void King Realm.
Yang Kai had participated in the Blood Prison Trials himself back in the day, obtaining quite a few Domain Stones inside. Domain Stones could help Return Void Realm cultivators refine their own domains, and it was precisely by relying on those stones that Yang Kai had been able to advance rapidly to the Void King Realm.
The age of the Blood Prison was impossible to verify, but it was at least ten thousand years old. According to legend, its origin lay in a massive battle among numerous Void King Realm powerhouses who perished here. Their martial dao essence and comprehension scattered outward, seeping into the earth and soil, and through a fortunate confluence of circumstances, this unique environment came into being — and the Domain Stones were born along with it.
The second reason for Cuiwei Star's fame was a matter of recent decades.
After the last Blood Prison Trials concluded, the Star Lord of Cuiwei Star, Luo Hai, perished under mysterious circumstances, sending shockwaves throughout the entire star domain. Countless people found it inconceivable.
Though Luo Hai had only reached the second level of the Void King Realm, he was nonetheless the only cultivator in the entire domain who had achieved the position of Star Lord with merely a second-level cultivation base. His aptitude was exceptional, and with the support of the Star Source, given enough time, he would surely have advanced to the third level — standing at the very pinnacle of the star domain and becoming a dominant overlord.
Yet such a dazzlingly talented individual had perished suddenly. No one knew what exactly he had encountered after those Blood Prison Trials. At the time, people speculated whether he had provoked one of those reclusive old monsters and been ruthlessly killed.
After all, his strength was not weak, and as a Star Lord, aside from that handful of supreme figures, who could have killed him?
But over the following decade or so, the truth gradually came to light.
The one who killed him was not some reclusive old monster — it was Yang Kai, the Star Lord of Dark Star!
The information originated from Ice Heart Valley on Chi Lan Star. Who had spread it could not be verified, but the accounts were unequivocal, for Luo Hai had perished on Chi Lan Star itself, and many disciples of Ice Heart Valley had witnessed it firsthand.
At that time, Yang Kai had already departed the star domain, heading to the Star Realm, so the revelation did not stir up much of a storm. Though Luo Hai had many connections, no one truly ventured to Dark Star to exact revenge on his behalf — especially since Yang Kai was no longer in the star domain. With no way to settle the score, the matter faded away, gradually subsiding with the passage of time.
But the death of a Star Lord — how shocking was that? One could say that among all the Star Lords in the Heng Luo Star Domain, Luo Hai was the first to be killed in a personal conflict. Even if he might not be the last, he was certainly without precedent.
Gazing upon this familiar star, Yang Kai's long-sealed memories were unlocked.
This was not his first time visiting Cuiwei Star. Counting this occasion, it was already his third.
The last time he had come here was to participate in the Blood Prison Trials. He had subsequently been hunted by the Star Lord Luo Hai, fleeing through the star domain for the better part of a year, chased all the way to Chi Lan Star. Had he not repeatedly hidden himself within the Mysterious Boundary Bead, things would likely have turned grim.
It had been one of those rare, razor-thin moments between life and death in his life, so he had never forgotten it.
Though he could no longer quite recall why Luo Hai had been chasing him so relentlessly in the first place — the man had pursued him like a maggot latched onto bone, impossible to shake off.
At the end of the day, he actually owed the deceased Luo Hai some thanks. Had the man not chased him so persistently, Yang Kai would never have stumbled into Chi Lan Star by chance, nor would he have found Su Yan in Ice Heart Valley.
The past was like smoke!
Yang Kai smiled faintly, gathering his thoughts. He transformed into a streak of light and descended toward Cuiwei Star.
His original destination was Di Chen, the Demon Star — the only cultivation star in the domain dominated by the Demon Race. The survival space for humans and other races there was extremely limited. Shan Qingluo was currently stationed there, and it was the closest location to Dark Star.
If the spatial formation he had set up back then had not been destroyed, he could have teleported directly to Di Chen and saved himself the travel time. But the spatial formation on Di Chen appeared to have been rendered inoperable, so Yang Kai had no choice but to take a roundabout route.
The reason he came to Cuiwei Star was that the Blood Prison contained a hidden passage leading directly to Di Chen. During the Blood Prison Trials, Shan Qingluo and several young prodigies of the Demon Race had used that passage to travel back and forth. Though Yang Kai didn't know the exact location of the passage, with his current level of cultivation, finding it within the Blood Prison would be simple enough.
As he descended, Yang Kai frowned slightly.
He could sense that Cuiwei Star was vastly different from what he remembered. The entire star was shrouded in a thick aura of death, so dense that even with the naked eye, one could see a faint yellowish haze enveloping the whole planet.
The death of the Star Lord undoubtedly contributed to this, but it was far from the fundamental cause. Luo Hai had died decades ago, and Cuiwei Star's Star Source had long since returned. Even if it had sustained some damage at the time, it should not have caused such a dramatic transformation.
Recalling what he had heard in recent days at the Lingxiao Sect about the Great Desolate Star Domain's activities, Yang Kai had a nagging feeling that Cuiwei Star's transformation was inextricably linked to the Great Desolate Star Domain.
This cultivation star had likely already fallen.
Without a Star Lord to preside over it, and without any truly powerful cultivators, Cuiwei Star had been utterly incapable of resisting the invasion of the Great Desolate Star Domain's forces.
Above a city, Yang Kai descended like a falling meteor, his figure coming to an abrupt halt several dozen zhang above the rooftops. He lowered his gaze and looked down, his frown deepening.
He had intended to land and inquire about the Blood Prison's location, but as he surveyed the city below, he found that there were hardly any living people within it. Instead, the stench of blood rose to the heavens, filling his nostrils with a nauseating reek. Broken walls and rubble littered every corner of the city, birds swept across the sky, and the earth groaned beneath.