In other words, even Star Domain Masters were subject to the jurisdiction and constraints of the
And this feather-crowned man before him was, in a certain sense, the direct superior of
Yang Kai knew absolutely nothing about any of this. Having stumbled into the role halfway through, having directly refined the Heng Luo Star Domain without going through the Star Court, he naturally had no sense of reverence for the institution.
The feather-crowned man raised his sword overhead. In that instant his presence swelled to the height of a mountain — not because his body had grown larger, but because the eruption of his aura rose straight to the heavens, stirring the stars themselves.
"Boy, considering how hard you've worked to cultivate, hand over your Small World quickly, and I may spare your life."
Yang Kai's voice was firm and resolute: "In your dreams!"
"You're asking for death, boy!" Cold light flashed in the feather-crowned man's eyes as he brought his longsword down. Light flowed across the blade, its power unfathomable, and in that instant the heavens and earth seemed to contain nothing but the splendor of this single strike.
It wasn't some overwhelmingly powerful technique — just a casual swipe — yet it seemed to seal off every possible escape route, filling Yang Kai with the inescapable certainty that there was nowhere to dodge.
Whoosh—
Light flashed. The longsword froze. Yang Kai pressed his palms together and raised them overhead, catching the blade between his hands.
A few strands of black hair snapped off, pulverized into dust by the invisible sword qi.
"Oh?" The feather-crowned man raised an eyebrow in surprise, clearly not expecting Yang Kai to have caught his strike. A single slash from that sword was enough to take Wu Heng's head — and this boy didn't even look as powerful as Wu Heng. What gave him the ability to emerge unscathed?
He didn't dwell on it, simply applying more force and pressing the blade downward.
In an instant, Yang Kai felt as though an entire mountain had settled on top of him, and the weight only kept growing, as though it wouldn't rest until he was crushed flat. He looked up to see the feather-crowned man gazing down at him with a mocking expression, like someone watching an ant squirm.
Fury blazed to life in his heart. Yang Kai's left eye transformed in an instant into a majestic vertical pupil, and from within that slit, a long saber tore through the void, cleaving down at the feather-crowned man's head.
"A Soul Emperor Treasure!" The feather-crowned man's eyes lit up. Barely affected by the Demon Eye of Annihilation, he instantly discerned the true nature of the Soul-Severing Saber.
Emperor Treasures weren't rare in his eyes, but Soul Emperor Treasures were far less common. Of course, while the Soul-Severing Saber was impressive, it wasn't enough to spark greed in him. The only thing he truly cared about was the Small Profound Realm — that was the thing that would truly benefit his cultivation.
He was simply curious about how this young man before him had gotten his hands on so many treasures — an ordinary Emperor Realm cultivator wouldn't have such depth of resources.
With a flicker of his spiritual sense, he hastily erected a layer of defense before his sea of consciousness.
BOOM—
A tremor rang out from the deepest recesses of his soul. The hastily erected defense proved utterly useless. A pure strand of soul attack, shaped into the form of a long saber, carved a massive trench through his sea of consciousness as though intending to cleave it in two. In that instant, waves surged and billowed within.
The feather-crowned man grunted, a piercing pain radiating from deep within his skull.
A simple Soul-Severing Saber might not have harmed him — at his level of cultivation, external attacks could barely scratch him. But the Soul-Severing Saber augmented by the Heaven-Breaking Strike? That combination was far more than simply the sum of its parts.
It had been many years since Yang Kai last used the Soul-Severing Saber. Over those years he had continuously nurtured it with his spiritual sense, accumulating a truly terrifying amount of power. Now, unleashed through the secret Heaven-Breaking Strike technique
"Boy..." The feather-crowned man's face twisted into a grimace, shame giving way to fury. He had never imagined he would actually take damage from this one — he'd assumed Yang Kai was nothing more than an ant he could crush at will, and now that ant had bitten him.
BOOM—
A massive fist suddenly filled his vision. A wave of power like a mountain avalanche struck him head-on, and the feather-crowned man shot backward like a meteor, vanishing from sight in the blink of an eye.
Yang Kai retracted his fist and stood tall. At some point his body had already transformed into a twenty-zhang dragon form — dragon horns jutted from his head, a dragon tail trailed behind him, and dragon scales armored every inch of exposed skin. He cut an awe-inspiring figure, utterly dominating.
"You old dog — have you had enough of calling me 'boy' or not?!"
Before his words had even faded, a flash of cold light appeared. The feather-crowned man, sword and body merged as one, crossed tens of thousands of li in an instant and appeared before him, his sword slashing toward Yang Kai's dragon head.
Yang Kai's dragon claw shot out, seizing the longsword in his grip.
Clang! The sound of metal striking metal rang out. Sparks flew as dragon scales cracked.
Yang Kai gripped the sword tight, paying no heed to the damage the razor-sharp blade inflicted on him, allowing the unrivaled sword qi to pour into his body and wreak havoc unchecked. His other dragon claw formed a seal, and a wondrous Law surged into motion.
"This is..." The feather-crowned man's eyelids dropped. In that instant, he felt time itself grind to a halt, his five senses spiraling into confusion.