The great banner billowed like a living thing, swelling a few times before spitting out over a dozen emaciated corpses, then returning to the Ghost Ancestor's hand.
In the span of a single breath, those dozen Dao Source Realm cultivators had their souls harvested by the Ten Thousand Soul Banner, every drop of their blood and flesh essence devoured. The Ghost Ancestor's methods were truly terrifying—visually, they put Yang Kai's display to shame by several orders of magnitude.
In the blink of an eye, the entire Kaishan Sect—from its sect master down to the dozen Dao Source Realm warriors—had been annihilated.
The several hundred disciples watching from behind went cold all over, their hands and feet turning to ice. Every one of them stared ahead in naked terror. Their cultivation was too low to even grasp what had just happened, yet their strongest fighters were already nothing but lifeless husks. Only now did they understand that the Kaishan Sect's founding ancestor, who had seemed so awe-inspiring moments ago, had simply been beneath the other party's notice. When he did choose to act, the so-called founding ancestor was no harder to crush than a mosquito. Before the unfolding carnage, a few female disciples were already crying in fear—if even the ancestor was dead, what hope did they have?
"If you want to live, get out! Do you all want to die here?" Ling Taixu barked at the survivors.
That sharp shout finally snapped them back to their senses. Someone let out a terrified scream, spun around, and fled. Once one person led the way, the rest followed. In an instant, several hundred people scrambled to turn and run for their lives. Many had gone so weak in the knees that they stumbled after only a few steps, falling hard before scrambling back up and staggering onward.
In a dozen breaths, the several hundred had vanished completely. Ling Taixu and Chu Lingxiao exchanged a glance and finally let out a sigh of relief.
They had genuinely feared that Yang Kai's killing intent might surge and he would leave none of them alive. If that had happened, they wouldn't have known what to make of it. Li Kaishan and the dozen Dao Source Realm cultivators who had attacked Lingxiao Pavilion's sect-protecting formation? Their deaths were justified—who would tolerate anyone brazenly assaulting their formation? Attempting such a thing was tantamount to challenging the entire sect, and being killed for overestimating oneself was nobody else's fault. But those several hundred young disciples were still green, innocent, and utterly ignorant. They had simply followed their elders' orders to come here and likely had no idea what consequences this excursion would carry.
Now, seeing them flee without Yang Kai lifting a finger to stop them, everyone finally relaxed.
The demonic energy gradually receded, and Yang Kai reverted to his usual appearance. Looking at his calm expression now, no one could imagine the sinister, ruthless side he had displayed moments ago.
"From this day forward, Lingxiao Pavilion opens its gates!" Yang Kai announced in an even tone.
Hua Qingsi and Bian Yuqing straightened at once, their faces solemn with excitement. "We shall obey the Pavilion Master's decree!"
They had every reason to be excited. For years, the twin weights of the "heretical sect" label and the Great Emperor's mountain-sealing edict had pressed down on Lingxiao Pavilion like two boulder-like mountains, making it impossible to breathe. The rank-and-file disciples might not have felt it too keenly—most had come from the Star Domain, their cultivation was still modest, and they had spent most of their time in closed-door training. But the pavilion's senior leadership felt it acutely. When a sect's very reputation was at stake, who could remain indifferent?
Opening the gates meant parting the clouds to reveal the moon. It was Lingxiao Pavilion's declaration to the world.
"Sister Hua," Yang Kai called out.
Hua Qingsi stepped forward quickly. "I'm here."
"Which sects have caused trouble the way Kaishan Sect just did over the past few years? Have you kept records?" Yang Kai turned to look at her.
Hua Qingsi glanced at him with a hint of resignation—she knew exactly what he was planning—but she nodded. "Every one of them." Knowing Yang Kai's temperament all too well, she had made a point of recording every sect that had come to provoke and cause trouble, precisely for this moment.
Yang Kai grinned. "Good. I'll trouble you to take a team to those sects and send every Void King Realm cultivator and above to the Western Domain battlefield. The Western Domain... should be seeing some major developments soon. They're short on manpower."
Hua Qingsi bowed her head. "Understood!"
Meng Wuya sucked air through his teeth, his face pinched as if he had a toothache. After a moment's hesitation, he spoke up. "Pavilion Master, won't this cause problems?"
Killing those who came to provoke was one thing—at least there was a justification. But forcing other sects to send their people to fight on the Western Domain battlefield was crossing a line. After all, the recruitment decrees issued by the Great Emperors in recent years had all been voluntary. Even the Great Emperors had never compelled anyone to participate in the War of Two Realms. Yang Kai doing so would strike people as far too overbearing.
"What problems could there be?" Yang Kai chuckled. "They want to build their sect's reputation, and the best place to do that is the battlefield—an ideal stage for earning merit and glory. Sending them there is doing them a favor."
The group fell speechless. The battlefield was indeed a place to earn merit and spread one's name, but only if you survived. In recent years, Half-Saints from the Demon Domain and Pseudo-Emperors from the Star Realm had both fallen there. Who could guarantee they would come back whole from such a war?
Then again, those sects had spent the past few years hiding in the Northern Domain, enjoying comfort and indulgence. They hardly deserved sympathy.
As the conversation was still underway, Yang Kai let out a soft "oh?" and turned his gaze toward the interior of Lingxiao Pavilion.
Everyone, unsure of what had happened, looked in the same direction.
A moment later, a streak of light shot out from within the sect and came to a halt before them, revealing the figure of a young man with an arrogant bearing and a cold, detached expression. Once he appeared, he ignored everyone else entirely and fixed his stare on Yang Kai.