Martial Peak

After losing track of the Religion Master and considering the methods he used, finding him now would be quite difficult.

This time’s action could not be considered a success, but within a short time, the Religion Master should not be able to show himself; after all, he had also suffered heavy losses. The last attack he launched with that Emperor Artifact no doubt caused significant backlash for him. Otherwise, he would not have waited so long to use it.

Qian Tong obviously knew this, so he did not bother asking Yang Kai to continue this pursuit. After thinking about it for a moment, he proposed, “Although we let him escape, Corpse Spirit Religion still needs to be dealt with as soon as possible. We should first return to Grand Burial Valley and destroy that Corpse Cave. When this old master passed through it, he felt many Corpse Spirits sleeping inside.”

“En, I was thinking the same,” Yang Kai agreed with him.

After a brief discussion, the pair set off immediately in the direction of Grand Burial Valley.

Three days later, the two returned to Grand Burial Valley. The Corpse Spirits inside the valley had suffered serious losses thanks to Qian Tong’s earlier rampage, but they had not been completely wiped out. However, the remaining Corpse Spirits had seemingly escaped, leaving behind only the ones who had yet to fully transform inside the Corpse Cave.

Before Qian Tong destroyed the Corpse Cave, Yang Kai once again returned to the Underworld Well Spring to see if there was any way he could destroy it. This was the true source of the Corpse Spirit Race, so as long as it could be destroyed, the Corpse Spirit Race would no longer be able to increase their numbers, leaving only the remnants outside to clean up before Shadowed Star would once again have its peace restored.

However, to his disappointment, Yang Kai found it was impossible to destroy the Underworld Well Spring. It seemed this spring was connected to another world out of which Yin, Death, and Corpse Qi flowed continuously.

Rumour had it that the Underworld Well Spring connected to the netherworld!

The only way to destroy the bridge would be to enter it and sever the connection from the inside.

Yang Kai didn’t dare take such a risk though and could only take a step back, joining forces with Qian Tong to temporarily seal the Underworld Well Spring before collapsing the Corpse Cave, killing the incomplete Corpse Spirits inside in the process.

Ten days later, Yang Kai and Qian Tong returned to High Heaven Sect.

After briefly informing Ye Xi Yun and the other leaders about what had transpired, even Great Elder Ye was shocked, not having imagined there was such a strong method that allowed one continuously use Soul Seizing in this world.

The rest of the Elders also sighed.

“Sect Master, does that mean this Religion Master is immortal?” Ye Xi Yun frowned.

“That’s not the case. Although his seizing technique is profound and hard to be traced, it does some damage to him. This is obvious considering the targets he chose to possess. However, finding him again after he escaped this time will be exceedingly difficult,” Yang Kai sighed.

Ye Xi Yun nodded lightly, “Although the Religion Master was not beheaded this time, it is enough that the Underworld Well Spring has been sealed. Presumably, the Corpse Spirit Race will not be able to increase their numbers again, so it is time for us to begin our counterattack.”

Yang Kai glanced at her and smiled slightly, “What does Great Elder propose?”

“Take advantage of the victory!” Ye Xi Yun quickly said, “Shadowed Star’s situation has been deteriorating over the past two years was because the Corpse Spirit Race were a completely unfamiliar foe and they had the means to transform our own fallen into their comrades. Another reason is that the great forces of Shadowed Star all fought separately, allowing them to be defeated one by one. Now, however, things are different. With Sect Master’s return, along with our Origin King Grade Starship and Elder Qian’s breakthrough to the Origin King Realm, as long as you two stand up to take the lead, with the reputations and status of High Heaven Sect and Shadow Moon Hall, it should not be hard to unify Shadowed Star against the Corpse Spirit Races.”

“This old master has no objections. Shadowed Star is this old master’s homeland, so he is duty-bound to protect it,” Qian Tong said immediately.

Ye Xi Yun turned her sights to Yang Kai next.

“I’m also fine with it,” Yang Kai chuckled, “Great Elder and Elder Qian can take charge. The Sect’s resources and manpower are yours to deploy. I’ll contribute whatever I can.”

“Since Sect Master wants to loaf around, so be it. We’ll proceed as proposed,” Ye Xi Yun was a decisive woman and immediately made her decision.

Next came discussions about how exactly to go about uniting the remaining masters on Shadowed Star, how to establish a command structure which would be respected, and how to eliminate Corpse Spirit Religion…

In fact, things were quite simple. The prestige of High Heaven Sect was not low, and coupled with Qian Tong’s current identity as an Origin King, all that needed to be done was for the latter to raise his voice and others would surely rally.

With these two forces taking the lead, coupled with the Origin King Grade Starship, it would not be a difficult matter to gather up and rescue the masters and Sects who were besieged by Corpse Spirit Religion. As time passed, like a rolling snowball, they would be able to sweep across all of Shadowed Star and wipe out Corpse Spirit Religion!

Ye Xi Yun also prepared people to spread the word to all of Shadowed Star that the mysterious Religion Master of Corpse Spirit Religion had been killed by Yang Kai and Qian Tong!

Although this news was false, no one would doubt it, and right now, the Religion Master only wanted to conceal his whereabouts, so there was no chance of him showing himself to discredit them.

This news would greatly impact the morale of the Corpse Spirit Race and the Human cultivators who had submitted to Corpse Spirit Religion, making eliminating them all the easier.

Yang Kai did not participate in these discussions and instead went to visit Yang Yan again.

“It seems he really was the Insect Emperor!” Inside Yang Yan’s Knowledge Sea, Yang Kai sat face to face with her and wore a thoughtful look on his face, “The Ten Thousand Poison Evil Insect is one of the Ancient Insects he cultivated using a profound Secret Technique, and that Soul Splitting Saber is his artifact. Unexpectedly, he actually survived that battle; it seems I was negligent.”

“So his original title was Insect Emperor!” Yang Kai nodded.

“En, because the focus of his cultivation was on controlling different Ancient Exotic Insects. He is able to attach threads of his Soul to any insect he cultivates, allowing him to jump and take possession through them multiple times. The Ten Thousand Poison Evil Insect is just one kind of Exotic Insect in his possession and is not actually that big of a deal. It can only be used to control others. He has other more powerful methods in his hands. With those methods, he could raise a reign of terror throughout the Star Field, leaving countless corpses in his wake!”

Yang Kai could not help trembling slightly as he realized Yang Yan was not talking about a single Cultivation Star, but rather the entire Star Field.

Yang Yan smiled lightly, however, “You don’t need to be so nervous. In order to control certain powerful Exotic Insects, he needs a correspondingly powerful cultivation. Right now, he is only a Third-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivator, so how could he possibly control so many Exotic Insects? Even using the Ten Thousand Poison Evil Insect in such a reckless manner must have caused quite a backlash for him, so believe me when I say he won’t show himself again for a few years at least.”

“As long as he’s alive, he’s still a disaster waiting to happen!” Yang Kai frowned.

Yang Kai was very wary of the Insect Emperor as he was a character on the same level as Yang Yan, so who knows what he was capable of?

Yang Yan narrowed her eyes slightly as she spoke, “I have a way to help you kill him!”

“Oh? What way?” Yang Kai looked up at her.

Yang Yan did not speak and instead reached out to grab towards the void.

Inside Yang Yan’s Knowledge Sea, a beautiful ball of multi-coloured light manifested atop her palm, after which she immediately pressed her hand against Yang Kai’s forehead.

She did not move quickly or slowly, seemingly just carelessly waving her hand, but Yang Kai was unable to react until the ball of light in Yang Yan’s hand had already entered his Soul Avatar and disappeared, shocking him as he asked, “What was that?”

Yang Yan smiled lightly and simply said, “You’ll know after refining it.”

The moment after Yang Yan spoke, Yang Kai felt a wild aura suddenly explode inside his Soul Avatar. This was a kind of strength he was unable to resist, and it forced his Soul Avatar to collapse directly and return to his main body.

The next moment, when he opened his eyes, what Yang Kai saw was not the inside of the small loft, but an empty and chaotic space, with absolutely nothing, not even light around him. He could not even sense his own existence.

Yang Kai was startled, not knowing where he was, but he was not someone unfamiliar with great storms, so he did not panic and instead began calmly examining his surroundings.

It was not long before traces of substance appeared inside the vast nothingness, and as this substance gathered together, it gradually grew larger and larger.

After some unmeasurable amount of time passed, a massive star appeared in Yang Kai’s field of vision. This star had no vitality, not even simple plants, a barren Dead Star by all accounts.

Staring at this massive star, however, Yang Kai felt it was a little familiar.

“Shadowed Star!” An epiphany struck Yang Kai as he observed Shadowed Star from the Starry Sky. It had the size and appearance of the current Shadowed Star, but none of the vitality.

“I understand now,” Yang Kai had not comprehended what Yang Yan had done to him until this moment, and feeling grateful in his heart, he quickly focused his attention to fully grasp this extremely rare and precious opportunity.

In his disembodied state, Yang Kai was unable to perceive the passage of time at all. It seemed that only a moment had gone by, while at the same time hundreds of millions of years had passed. Finally, traces of life began to appear on the dead Shadowed Star, the sea ebbed and flowed while plants and greenery began filling the land. Soon, flesh and blood creatures were also born.

One by one, different races rose, carving their mark into the long river of history before disappearing once more.

Many different civilizations rose and fell as Yang Kai looked on.

He felt auras from ancient and primordial times, and as he observed these epochs change, part of them seemed to integrate into his being, as if he had passed through all the aeons together with this star.

He witnessed its birth, development, peaks and troughs with his own eyes…

Gradually, Yang Kai began to have a peculiar feeling that he was this star, and the star was him!

A Star Master!

Only a Star Master would experience such a sensation.

When Xia Ning Chang refined the Star Source of Tong Xuan Realm, Yang Kai had accompanied and assisted her, granting him the opportunity to observe the evolution and development of Tong Xuan Realm, so now seeing such a similar scene again, how could he not understand?

This was clearly the process one needed to undertake when refining a Star Source and become a Star Master!