"You dare threaten me?" The Kun Shark fixed Lin Feng with a frigid stare, the killing intent in his eyes growing ever denser.
Lin Feng's heart hammered, but he forced himself to maintain a calm, unafraid expression.
A long moment passed before the Kun Shark let out a cold snort. "Fine — this King permits it." In his heart he sneered: Once I find that brat who stole the Moon Essence, you'll be the first one I eat.
Lin Feng silently breathed a sigh of relief, already scrambling to figure out how to warn Yang Kai and the others. If the Kun Shark reached them, they'd have almost no chance of fighting back.
But with such a powerful being right beside him, how could he possibly send a message? He cursed inwardly, though fortunately he didn't actually know where Yang Kai currently was or where he'd return to after fleeing the sea clans — which meant he could stall the Kun Shark for a while and wait for an opportunity.
When he relayed this to the Kun Shark, the latter furrowed his brow. He had assumed Lin Feng traveled with Yang Kai and must have been long-time companions, but the reality was apparently quite different.
After a brief pause, the Kun Shark spoke: "That junior is clearly no weakling — he must have some reputation. Go down and ask around. Someone should know."
Lin Feng couldn't help but scoff inwardly. The Grand Void Realm was vast, with hundreds of thousands of cultivators scattered everywhere. Who would know Yang Kai's name?
But the Kun Shark had made a demand, and he had no way to refuse. Playing along with the intention of just going through the motions, Lin Feng descended and called out in a loud voice: "Has anyone here heard of a man called Yang Kai? Does anyone know where he is?"
The several thousand people in the Star Market had been utterly shaken after witnessing the Kun Shark's true form moments ago. Now seeing Lin Feng come down to ask questions — with no idea what his relationship with the Kun Shark actually was — they were even more terrified. Not a single person answered.
The Kun Shark, on the other hand, let out a cold snort and reached out with a claw-like grab. A young man from the Star Market was instantly seized in his grasp.
The youth's face drained of all color, his mind scattering in panic. "Don't kill me! Please don't kill me!" he cried.
The Kun Shark leaned in close and growled, low: "You know Yang Kai?"
The young man screamed, "I don't! I've never seen him!"
"Liar!" The Kun Shark snorted. "The moment you heard that name, your heartbeat quickened by three beats. You clearly know him — and you dare lie to this King? Do you think I'll let that slide?"
His massive mouth opened, and he stuffed the young man inside, swallowing him whole!
"Kun Shark! You gave your word!" Lin Feng watched the scene unfold and flew into a rage. Moments ago the creature had agreed not to eat humans, and in the blink of an eye he'd swallowed one whole.
The Kun Shark was utterly unperturbed. "He dared deceive this King. Naturally, he must be punished!" So saying, he reached out again and seized a middle-aged elder, posing the same question: "Do you know Yang Kai?"
"I..." The elder was terrified out of his wits, stammering.
"You saw what happens to liars. And your heartbeat quickened by three beats as well!" The Kun Shark bared his teeth in a savage grin.
"I know him! I know him!" The elder nodded frantically. "This lowly one knows that harbinger of death!"
"Harbinger of death?" The Kun Shark raised an eyebrow.
The elder hurried on: "He killed thousands from Thunder Light, and he annihilated Sword Pavilion's Star Market — over a hundred thousand people died at his hands. He's a harbinger of death, plain and simple!"
"Now that's a fine young man! Such ferocity — he suits my tastes perfectly! Hahaha!" The Kun Shark's eyes lit up with delight.
"Killed thousands from Thunder Light? Wiped out Sword Pavilion's Star Market? A hundred thousand dead?" Lin Feng on the other side was dumbstruck. Was this for real? It sounded absurd.
But the old man surely wouldn't have the courage to lie to the Kun Shark.
Someone nearby spoke up, trembling: "It's true. When he killed those thousands from Thunder Light, we saw it with our own eyes. As for Sword Pavilion's Star Market — tens of thousands of people there all died at his hands too."
Lin Feng turned to the speaker. "You saw that part too?"
The man shook his head. "No, not that part. But word is he brought back tens of thousands of Space Rings from Sword Pavilion's Star Market. Where else would he get that many rings if he hadn't killed all those people?"
Lin Feng's eyelids twitched uncontrollably. Tens of thousands of Space Rings — that was tens of thousands of lives.
But he'd spent several days with Yang Kai, and the man hadn't struck him as someone who slaughtered without mercy. He also hadn't expected that casually asking around in this outpost of just a few thousand humans would actually turn up information about Yang Kai.
Did that guy really have that kind of reputation?
He'd been adventuring overseas for a long time, so his knowledge of affairs in this region was limited — otherwise he wouldn't have been clueless about where Yang Kai might return.
As for the speaker and the two the Kun Shark had seized, they were former Disciples of Red Star. When Red Star's cultivators had staged a mass escape, this group had fled here to eke out a meager existence, never imagining they'd still be implicated by Yang Kai.
Over on the other side, the Kun Shark was absolutely delighted. He felt Yang Kai was right up his alley, and laughed heartily: "Old man — do you know where that Yang Kai is staying?"
The elder hastily replied: "He's an honored guest of Red Star! Right now he's in Red Star's Star Market!"
"Lead the way!" The Kun Shark released him, and the elder dared not disobey. He hurried forward to guide them.
The Kun Shark followed behind him with his hands clasped behind his back. Lin Feng, seeing this, quickly gave chase.
Moments later, the Kun Shark frowned. "You're too slow — at this rate we'll never arrive. Old man — you, point me in the right direction!"
With that, he seized one person in each hand, transformed into a streak of blinding light, and shot off like a bolt of lightning.