Within Star Market, Yang Kai moved swiftly, his Divine Sense unfurling like a tide. Channeling his power, it was as though countless invisible hands reached outward, snatching back the spatial rings of the dead one by one and tossing them into his Small Mystic World.
There was no time to inspect what lay inside—there were simply too many. He would have to search through them slowly later.
Half a day passed, and the ruined Star Market had been mostly cleared out. Yang Kai was just about to head back when a faint, shrill scream reached his ears from one direction.
He whipped his head around to look.
The direction was toward the great hall where the Pavilion Master of Sword Pavilion had died. The voice, without a doubt, belonged to Lu Xue. Apart from him and Lu Xue, there were no other living souls left in all of Star Market.
Yet at this very moment, there was clearly an additional aura emanating from that direction—one that felt wild and bestial, like the presence of a demon beast.
A demon beast? Yang Kai's brow furrowed. Driven by curiosity, his figure blurred and vanished on the spot.
When he reappeared, he was already inside that great hall. Looking up, his frown deepened.
Lu Xue was suspended in midair, held aloft before a humanoid monster over two zhang tall, clad in a short garment of beast hide. The creature was entirely green. Though it had a humanoid form, it was most certainly not human.
Its two arms were horrifyingly sharp, shaped like scythe blades, and atop its neck sat a flat, elongated head. At first glance, it looked exactly like a mantis.
What in the world was this thing?
In all his years of wandering the land, Yang Kai had never encountered anything quite so bizarre.
Generally speaking, when a demon beast cultivated to a certain level, it could assume human form. Only those whose cultivation was insufficient would retain traces of their beast form during the transformation.
Yet the aura of this mantis-headed creature was immensely powerful—far stronger than that of the Scarlet Flood Dragon or the Earth Dragon. How could it still look like some half-human, half-beast hybrid?
The Scarlet Flood Dragon and the Earth Dragon had never taken human form. Yang Kai figured that was related to their intelligence—without awakened sentience, transformation was impossible. Could it be that this mantis head's intelligence wasn't fully developed?
Hearing the commotion, the mantis head turned to look at Yang Kai. Its compound eyes refracted a disorienting, hypnotic glow. It raised one scythe-like arm and scratched its own head, looking somewhat confused.
The Mistress had simply told it that there was an interesting fellow over here and ordered it to bring him back. The moment it arrived, it had spotted Lu Xue and assumed she was the one. Who would have thought another would show up now?
Which one was it?
It carefully compared the auras of Lu Xue and Yang Kai but simply couldn't decide. In its perception, Lu Xue was clearly far more powerful than Yang Kai. Yet its beast instincts whispered that Yang Kai posed a lethal threat to it.
After pondering for a good while, it suddenly broke into a grin, producing a sound like metal scraping against metal: "Forget it. I'll just take you both back."
This mantis head could talk! Lu Xue was stunned for a moment, then cast a pleading gaze toward Yang Kai. Her life hung by a single thread—at the slightest movement from this creature, she would be torn apart on the spot. Her only hope was Yang Kai. If he was willing to save her, she might still have a sliver of a chance.
But to her disappointment, Yang Kai didn't so much as glance at her. A wave of despair washed through her heart. Then again, it made sense. Earlier, Yang Kai had beenslaughtering the people of Sword Pavilion, even coming here to finish them off. She was a member of Sword Pavilion—why would he care whether she lived or died?
"Was this your doing?" Yang Kai asked the mantis head, then quickly shook his head. "No. You couldn't have pulled this off."
"I don't know what you're talking about." The mantis head flicked its arm, and Lu Xue, still suspended in midair, cried out as she was flung aside. It strode toward Yang Kai, its two scythe arms rubbing together lightly, producing a grating, ear-piercing sound. "Little thing, the Mistress told me to bring you back alive. You'd best not resist, or you'll suffer for it."
"The Mistress?" Yang Kai's brow arched. He had been meaning to probe further about who this so-called Mistress was, but in the next instant, a flash of green light blazed before his eyes. The mantis head was already face to face with him, its scythe arm thrusting toward his shoulder with a razor-sharp glint.
Incredibly fast!
Yang Kai's eyes narrowed as he instantly activated the Spatial Law. A blink later, he had teleported away, reappearing ten zhang from his original position.
A tearing sound—his clothes were ripped.
Yang Kai turned his head to look. The outfit he had changed into halfway here now bore a long gash. Had his reaction been any slower, that first exchange alone would have cost him.
"Hmm?" The mantis head tilted its own head to the side, its compound eyes spinning with what could only be described as confusion. "You're fast!"
"And you're not bad yourself!" Yang Kai scoffed coldly.
"Then let's see who's faster!" The mantis head bared its grin, revealing two rows of serrated, saw-like fangs. The words had barely left its mouth before its entire body transformed into a streak of green light, hurtling toward him like a bolt of lightning.
Yang Kai braced himself, his Divine Sense locked onto the mantis head's aura. The Spatial Law surged through him as he met every attack with a counter.
In an instant, demonic winds howled, shadows flickered, and the great hall became a maelstrom of chaos.