Li Shiqing had been slapped into a daze.
Though she had been abducted to the Demon Domain, she had actually suffered little mistreatment during her time there. The Demon Race members had at most been verbally harsh with her, but now she had been slapped across the face by a man who was apparently a human—and possibly of a noble clan, no less. Her vision exploded with stars, and she could not immediately collect herself.
Who was he? Why had he hit her?
Before the thought could fully form, Li Shiqing felt a heavy weight press down on her chest. She looked up to see that the man who had struck her was now standing over her, one foot planted firmly on her chest, leaning slightly forward, gazing down at her with a savage expression. A cold, sinister smile played across his face as he spoke in a chilling tone: "Do you know who I am?"
Li Shiqing shook her head in terror, glistening tears already brimming in her eyes.
Yang Kai stared, momentarily taken aback. How could this woman be so fragile? She was at the second stage of the Emperor Venerable Realm, for heaven's sake—what was there to cry about? He hadn't truly meant to strike Li Shiqing, but given his current situation—supposedly having fallen to Qi Deviation, descended into the demonic path, betrayed the Star Domain, and become an enemy of every powerful cultivator in the Star Realm—he needed to put on a show of viciousness and fury to sell the act. Who would have thought that a single slap would cause this kind of scene?
He put that aside and maintained his savage expression, baring his teeth at Li Shiqing. "Get a good look. My name is Yang Kai!"
The moment those words left his lips, Li Shiqing seemed to receive a tremendous shock. She stared at him in disbelief.
She had clearly heard the name Yang Kai before, but the person standing before her bore no resemblance to what she had heard. The Yang Kai she knew was the most dazzling new star of the Star Realm, a man destined to shine brilliantly in the future. The man in front of her, on the other hand, looked like a gambler who had lost everything and was seeing red.
Yang Kai continued to grin ferociously. "From this day forward, you belong to me. Whatever I tell you to do, you do it. If you dare utter a single word of refusal, I will make you wish you were dead! Understood?"
Li Shiqing's expression was dazed and vacant. It was only when Yang Kai asked again and a sharp pain lanced through her chest that she hurriedly nodded, tears the size of beans sliding down from the corners of her eyes, her expression utterly wretched.
Yang Kai smacked his lips and put on a look of bored disinterest. He lifted his foot, turned around, and extended a hand toward the middle-aged Demon Lord. "My demon crystals."
The middle-aged Demon Lord immediately handed over a prepared spatial ring, regarding Yang Kai with a complicated expression. No wonder the Holy Venerable had brought this man back to the Demon Domain—his demonic nature was far too potent.
Yang Kai took the spatial ring and swept it with his divine sense, giving it a brief inspection. After confirming everything was in order, he flashed a broad grin at Bai Zhuo. "Brother Bai, our business here is settled. I'll be taking my leave."
Bai Zhuo rose with a light smile. "I'll come along. I happen to be heading to see the Holy Venerable myself."
Yang Kai had no objection to this. He called for Xiao Wu to bring Li Shiqing, and the group left the room.
As the two chatted casually along the way, Yang Kai quickly realized that Bai Zhuo seemed quite eager to build a rapport with him, his words and manner notably warm. This left Yang Kai somewhat puzzled—was the man currying favor solely on account of Yu Rumeng?
As for the one hundred million demon crystals, Bai Zhuo had not mentioned them at all, and Yang Kai had no intention of returning them. After all, for a Half-Saint, one hundred million demon crystals probably amounted to nothing.
Before they had gone far, a figure suddenly appeared ahead, blocking their path. Within a hundred-zhang radius of where the person stood, not another soul remained. A presence so sharp it felt physical swept outward in all directions, forcing every Demon Race member in the vicinity to retreat.
Yue Sang!
This man had clearly received word from the Blood Arena and had rushed over in a fury. Yang Kai cast a meaningful glance at Bai Zhuo, silently guessing that the man had anticipated this and had deliberately accompanied him back to the temporary palace.
Otherwise, if he had been caught alone by Yue Sang here, things would not have ended well.
At this moment, Yue Sang's eyes blazed with fury, blood qi surging violently through his body, killing intent radiating from every pore. After sweeping a glance over Yang Kai and Li Shiqing, he fixed his cold gaze on Bai Zhuo and spoke in an icy tone: "You insist on meddling in my affairs?"
Bai Zhuo chuckled lightly. "Nothing better to do, so I might as well find some amusement."
Yue Sang snorted coldly and raised a finger to point at Yang Kai. "Thirty Myriad Demon Pills. Hand this man over to me."
Myriad Demon Pills? Yang Kai's eyes narrowed—what the hell were those? But from Yue Sang's words, it was clear he was offering thirty of these Myriad Demon Pills in exchange for Bai Zhuo's withdrawal. In a place like this, at a time like this, all it would take was for Bai Zhuo to step aside, and Yue Sang could do as he pleased. Granted, this was right under Yu Rumeng's nose, but if Yue Sang moved fast enough, he could probably leave no trace.
Yang Kai glanced at Bai Zhuo and found that the man's expression had actually shifted, revealing interest. He immediately understood that those Myriad Demon Pills must be something truly extraordinary.
But that was as far as it went. Bai Zhuo slowly shook his head. "I'm afraid I can't grant your wish."
"Fifty pills!"
Bai Zhuo raised a hand to his forehead, smiling ruefully. "That really is a tempting offer…"
"Eighty pills!" Yue Sang's voice rose sharply, carrying the pained reluctance of a man having several pounds of flesh carved from his body. "That is my absolute limit."
Bai Zhuo turned his head to look at Yang Kai, then at Li Shiqing, his expression wavering with visible interest. Yang Kai's heart clenched. Fortunately, Bai Zhuo did not agree. Instead, he simply said: "How about a different arrangement? I'll return this woman to you." He pointed a finger at Li Shiqing.
"Don't you dare!" Yang Kai flew into a rage, glaring at him. "She's my spoils of war!"
Hearing this, Bai Zhuo simply shrugged at Yue Sang. "Then I'm afraid there's nothing I can do."
Yue Sang's face turned as dark as water, his voice frigid. "Are you certain you won't regret this? You should know—enraging me benefits you in no way."