The World Bead, now serving as a vessel for the Heavenly Devouring Battle Art, had a pitch-black radiance blooming across its surface, as though the entire bead had transformed into a black hole. When it first appeared, it was no larger than a dragon's eye, but as it descended, it expanded rapidly.
By the time it reached the ground, it already spanned roughly a li in diameter.
This was the absolute limit of what Yang Kai could conjure — barely qualifying as the Small World's Devouring Domain.
Without a sound, the ground was dissolved into an enormous crater. Vegetation vanished without a trace, the earth lay exposed in a deep pit, and everything was swallowed into the Small World.
Only after burrowing a hundred li underground did Yang Kai give a mental command.
The World Bead rose gracefully, flying out of the ground and skimming the surface as it shot off into the distance.
At first glance, a black hole a full li in diameter seemed to roam the landscape like a living thing, everything in its path simply vanishing.
In the blink of an eye, a long, gaping chasm had appeared beneath the Spirit Peak. The black hole struck the belly of a nearby mountain, instantly boring clean through it and dissolving a hole large enough to see the scenery on the other side.
The mountain shuddered violently as a figure shot out from within, covered in dust, and roared, "Who's there? Show yourself!"
The man had been meditating in his cave dwelling moments ago when the devouring commotion jolted him awake. Thinking a powerful enemy had invaded, he rushed out immediately to investigate. His cultivation was nothing special — merely at the second-order Return Void realm — but on today's Yellow Spring Star, that was already considered impressive. He rarely encountered anyone who could challenge him, which was why his tone carried plenty of confidence.
But the next moment, his eyes went wide as he stared dumbly at the black hole roaming the earth below. A chill swept from the crown of his head to the soles of his feet, and he could not suppress a shudder.
What in the world was that thing? To possess such terrifying power — he had watched with his own eyes as everything the black hole passed through turned to nothingness, and it seemed even space itself was being devoured clean.
Figures began streaming out from various mountain peaks, evidently all cultivators who had been disturbed from their practice just as he had been. They quickly discovered the World Bead's existence and watched in stunned silence. As they exchanged spiritual sense communications, none of them could make sense of what they were seeing.
Though they had been cultivating for considerable time and were far from inexperienced, what they witnessed today still defied all imagination.
"There's someone over there — does anyone recognize him?" The first warrior to appear had suddenly noticed Yang Kai's presence and pointed as he spoke.
Everyone looked over and shook their heads one after another.
"Could it be he's the one causing havoc?"
"Who is this person? He looks unfamiliar."
"Could he be one of the Yellow Spring Sect's Elders?"
"Should we go up and ask?"
"You go if you want — that one doesn't look like someone you'd want to mess with."
After a round of shirking, it fell to the first man who had appeared to take on the task of communicating with Yang Kai. Flying cautiously toward where Yang Kai stood, he cupped his fists from a distance and said, "I am Wu Zimin. Greetings, sir. Might I ask your honored name?"
Yang Kai glanced up at him. "What is it?"
Wu Zimin's heart was pounding. Though terrified, he still mustered some courage and spoke. "Sir, might I ask — have my companions and I given offense in some way?"
Yang Kai propped his cheek against his hand and replied at his leisure. "No offense at all."
Wu Zimin's face fell. "If we've given no offense, then why are you doing this?"
"Is there a problem?"
Wu Zimin said, "My friends' cave dwellings and mine are all located right here. If you continue using such methods, how could our cave dwellings possibly survive? If this keeps up, even the Spirit Peak itself won't be spared!"
Before his words had even faded, a miserable howl came from that direction — one person's cave dwelling had already been consumed. The man's face was bitter as though he'd tasted medicine, and the mountain peak where his dwelling had been began to crumble as well.
Yang Kai curled his lip. "What does that have to do with me?"
Wu Zimin pleaded, "Please, sir, withdraw your power quickly!"
Yang Kai shook his head. "No way! I'm not just going to devour this Spirit Peak — I'm going to devour the entire Yellow Spring Star."
"What?!" Wu Zimin's jaw dropped, his face going blank.
"If you have nothing else, scram. I don't feel like killing anyone lately." Yang Kai waved his hand, shooing him away like a fly.
Wu Zimin's face shifted between pale and red, and he hesitated. "You're not from the Yellow Spring Sect?"
"You're the one from the Yellow Spring Sect. Your whole family's from the Yellow Spring Sect."
Wu Zimin said, "Since you know this star is called the Yellow Spring Star, do you know how powerful the Yellow Spring Sect is?" He was still hoping to use the Yellow Spring Sect's fearsome reputation to intimidate Yang Kai and make him back down.
Yang Kai laughed out loud. "I already destroyed the Yellow Spring Sect."