By the time Grey Bone Heavenly Lord finished dealing with Shen Luo's subordinates and looked up, Shen Luo was already on the brink. Spear shadows surged like a torrential downpour, crashing toward him in a violent storm. Shen Luo's body was riddled with wounds large and small, blood streaming freely.
Grey Bone's eyelids twitched slightly. Though he had personally witnessed Yang Kai kill a Sixth-Grade Heavenly Lord before, seeing this similar scene play out once more still shook him to his core.
After all, a Sixth-Grade Open Heaven cultivator stood only a single step away from the Superior Grade — a staggeringly powerful existence in the Three Thousand Worlds, and someone who could hold the position of Outer Elder in any Grotto-Heaven or Blessed Land.
Yet even so, he had virtually no power to resist in front of Yang Kai.
Shen Luo was no slouch, only a hair behind Giant Clam Heavenly Lord in strength. If Giant Clam couldn't beat him, how could Shen Luo possibly stand against Yang Kai's methods?
Knowing full well that this was the moment to demonstrate his own value, Grey Bone Heavenly Lord didn't hesitate for long. He flashed forward and joined the fray, attacking Shen Luo alongside Yang Kai.
Shen Luo's face turned ashen. He had already been battered into a wretched state under Yang Kai's ferocious onslaught — his defeat and death were merely a matter of time. Now, with Grey Bone added to the mix, his situation became even more dire.
"Grey Bone, you'll die a wretched death!"
Before half an incense stick's worth of time had passed, accompanied by Shen Luo's furious roar, the Azure Dragon Spear punched clean through his head. Blood and brains sprayed in every direction. Shen Luo's headless corpse convulsed violently, a fountain of blood gushing from his neck as he toppled straight to the ground.
Black light burst from the wrist of Shen Luo's corpse and surged into the gold ring on Yang Kai's wrist, instantly lighting up five more stars.
Yang Kai withdrew his spear and glanced down to appraise his tally, nodding in satisfaction.
Grey Bone stood before Shen Luo's remains, staring silently, his emotions tangled. In this moment, a sliver of wavering and doubt crept into his heart regarding his years of perseverance and cultivation.
Shen Luo's subordinates hadn't been killed — Grey Bone Heavenly Lord had captured them alive, placed restrictions on them, and locked them to the side.
Yang Kai strode over and skewered them one by one, collecting yet another batch of kills.
With that, the stars lit up in the gold ring on his wrist now numbered a full twenty-four.
"Clean this up. I'm going back into seclusion!" Yang Kai ordered, retrieving his spear and returning to the tree hollow.
Grey Bone Heavenly Lord silently tidied the battlefield. The traces left by this battle had to be erased so that anyone who came later wouldn't notice anything amiss. The array formations in the dense forest also needed to be re-laid.
Lu Jing came out to help as well. Fighting wasn't his strong suit, but this kind of small task was well within his ability.
Over the next two months, Yang Kai remained in the tree hollow deep within the forest, waiting. He refined Open Heaven Pills to bolster the foundation of his Small Universe while waiting for the fish to bite.
Three more big fish came, one after another. Each time, the kill team was led by a Sixth-Grade Open Heaven cultivator, and each time Yang Kai's haul was bountiful. Numerous smaller fish and shrimp came as well, and Grey Bone Heavenly Lord's forest dwelling had become a bottomless pit — no matter how many came, they were swallowed without a trace.
Two months later, fewer and fewer people ventured into the dense forest. Perhaps the strangeness of this place had finally been noticed, rousing people's caution — or perhaps White Hair could no longer contact more sinners.
But Yang Kai felt that things were about wrapped up.
This Dao Discussion Assembly was nominally a year-long affair, yet only three months had passed. His kill count was already approaching sixty stars. Among those, five Sixth-Grades had contributed twenty-five; the rest came from slaying those below the Sixth Grade.
Even Lu Jing had mooched a bit of credit, his gold ring now showing two lit stars.
The entire Sin Star held only a dozen or two dozen Sixth-Grade Open Heaven cultivators at most. Yang Kai alone had killed five — a truly terrifying feat. With this kind of record, Yang Kai felt that no one could possibly have more. Sixty stars amounted to sixty Fifth-Grade Open Heaven cultivators, or twelve Sixth-Grade ones. No matter how hard the others tried, they couldn't surpass that.
Still, it was always best to prepare for the unexpected. He had already made a bold promise to Elder Xu Lingong, so he absolutely could not afford to fail at this Dao Discussion Assembly. He quietly decided to wait here another two months. If no more big fish showed up by then, he would take the initiative and go on the offensive.
Time trickled on. The sinners near the forest grew ever fewer.
On this particular day, the three of them were meditating in the cave dwelling when Grey Bone Heavenly Lord's eyes snapped open, sensing something. After probing with his senses for a moment, he raised an eyebrow. "Sir, someone's coming!"
"Finally." Yang Kai opened his eyes and rolled his neck. For the past half month, not even a minnow had shown up, and he'd been bored to the point of growing mold. Hearing that someone was approaching, his spirits perked up immediately. He turned his head. "How many?"
"Just one!" Grey Bone's expression was somewhat odd. "And..."
"And what?"
"Sir, does this Dao Discussion Assembly allow women? I heard this assembly was meant to let Yin Yang Heaven's disciples select a husband — is that true?"
"A woman!" Yang Kai was taken aback, then seemed to recall something. He rose to his feet and stepped out of the tree hollow in a single stride.
A moment later, Yang Kai appeared before the newcomer and laughed in disbelief. "Junior Sister Gu? What are you doing here?"
Not far ahead, Gu Pan — small in stature, clutching a painting brush, her face guarded as she scanned her surroundings — turned to look. Her eyes widened in shock as well. "Senior Brother Yang? Why are you here?"