Yang Kai had grown accustomed to her and gave a slight nod.
"Senior Brother Yang!" Meng Hong and the others cupped their fists, looking as though a great weight had been lifted from their hearts.
"This subordinate greets the Lord!" Guo Ziyan's voice rang out strong and clear, and behind him, more than thirty people cupped their fists in unison: "We greet the Lord! We welcome the Lord's return!" Every one of them spoke with full vigor, their voices brimming with reverence and admiration!
They couldn't help but admire him. Just days ago, none of them had imagined that anyone at the Emperor Realm could accomplish something so inconceivable. Apart from Guo Ziyan, who was a Second-Order Open Heaven cultivator, the rest were all at the Emperor Realm. What they had witnessed that day had transformed the young man before them into a totem they worshipped in their hearts.
"No need for formalities. Rise," Yang Kai said, raising his hand.
Only then did Guo Ziyan and the others stand up.
Yue He covered her mouth and giggled from the side: "Allow me to inform Young Master — Commander Guo has already resigned from his position as Grand Commander of Crimson Star. None of them are part of Crimson Star anymore."
"Resigned as Grand Commander?" Yang Kai glanced at Guo Ziyan and the group behind him, then nodded. "Resigning is fine. What do you plan to do from now on?"
Guo Ziyan cupped his fists and spoke in a deep voice: "We wish to follow the Lord, attend to his every need, and serve him however we can!"
"We wish to follow the Lord and serve him!" the crowd declared in unison.
Yang Kai understood immediately. After that battle, all of them had already been stamped with his label. In anyone's eyes, they were his people, and Crimson Star probably didn't dare keep them — which was why they had been able to leave so easily. Otherwise, how would Crimson Star have allowed their Disciples to defect?
Guo Ziyan's character was solid enough. Back at the Yuanmagnetic Mountain, when faced with Thunder Light's coercion, he hadn't wavered in the slightest and had even been willing to live and die alongside Yang Kai. It was clear he was a trustworthy and capable man — the only drawback was his cultivation, which was somewhat lacking. Second-Order Open Heaven — even with future improvements, at the very most he would reach Fourth-Order.
But loyalty of the heart was what mattered most. A slightly lower cultivation was no great concern, and Yang Kai genuinely needed some people under his command to handle miscellaneous affairs. He nodded: "Very well. If that's the case, then from now on you'll follow me. I can't promise much else, but I give you my word — as long as you remain sincere, I will never let you down!"
Everyone's spirits soared, and they all called out: "Thank you, the Lord!"
Every one of them was beaming. With a powerhouse like Yang Kai to shelter them, their status in the Great Ruins Boundary would rise accordingly. Who would they need to fear in the future?
"Congratulations, Commander Guo. You've finally gotten your wish," Yue He said from the side, a playful smile on her lips.
Guo Ziyan's weathered face flushed slightly, and he said with a self-deprecating smile: "Miss Yue He, please don't tease this humble one. I'll be relying on your guidance in the future."
Yue He laughed so hard she swayed like a blossom in the wind.
When her laughter subsided, Yue He produced a space ring and handed it to Yang Kai: "These are the belongings of the people you killed earlier. I've collected everything for you, sorted and organized."
Yang Kai took it casually, glanced inside, and stored it away without any change in expression.
Yue He was slightly surprised. The contents were hardly insignificant — after all, it represented the accumulated wealth of three thousand people. The space rings of those mid-grade Open Heaven cultivators in particular were each brimming with riches. She had expected Yang Kai to show at least some pleased reaction upon receiving it, yet there was none at all.
Could it be that his previous haul at the Yuanmagnetic Mountain had already left him completely satisfied?
Just as she was puzzling over this, she heard Yang Kai say: "This works out well. You have experience with this sort of thing, so I'll have to trouble you once more."
As his words fell, Yang Kai swept his hand forward.
In the next instant, a ceaseless clinking and clattering filled the air, and the courtyard was instantly heaped with an enormous pile of space rings — a small mountain of them stacked before everyone's eyes.
Everyone was struck speechless with shock, staring blankly ahead, their hearts trembling beyond words.
The mountain of space rings before them numbered no fewer than ten thousand — possibly tens of thousands.
Yue He's face went pale, and she asked in a trembling voice: "Young Master… just how many people did you kill?"
She was on the verge of tears. This young master's killing intent was far too heavy! One trip to the Sword Pavilion's headquarters, and he had slaughtered this many people?
No wonder Yang Kai had shown no reaction when he'd taken the earlier space ring. That had been the accumulated wealth of just three thousand people, while Yang Kai now possessed the spoils of tens of thousands — they weren't even on the same level. How could anything like that elicit a response from him?
Guo Ziyan and the others were equally stunned, their faces blank with disbelief.
Just as Yue He had thought, each space ring represented a single life. Tens of thousands of space rings meant tens of thousands of people. Yang Kai had gone and returned in a mere three or four days, and in that time, this many people had perished at his hands?
And besides — where would the Sword Pavilion have found that many people for him to kill?