"You're a formation master?" Wu Yi stared blankly for a moment, then gazed at Yang Yan in shock. She had known Yang Yan was setting up a formation just now, but she never imagined that a formation casually arranged by her would be this formidable. Such mastery was something Wu Yi had never even heard of.
The expression on Yu Feng's face as he looked at Yang Yan was practically one of worship.
On the other side, Xu Zhishen, who had summoned four mountain peaks, seemed to have aged considerably in an instant. But when he looked at the space that had been nearly battered into collapse, he still couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief.
In all his years of life, he had never encountered anyone like Yang Kai. He hadn't even been able to perceive how Yang Kai had dodged the first attack — there were no traces of rapid movement, as though the young man had simply disregarded the existence of space itself and teleported from one spot to another.
But no matter how remarkable he was, he should have been reduced to nothing now. Xu Zhishen's body and mind were exhausted, yet he laughed with unrestrained glee. He had given it everything he had and, in the end, hadn't disgraced the Xu family's name.
Then, without warning, a bizarre sense of crisis surged from the depths of his heart. Xu Zhishen was a veteran of countless battles. Without a moment's thought, he immediately drove the phantoms of the four mountain peaks toward the source of the danger, spinning his head around to look.
The sight nearly made him scream.
The young man he had believed would be dead beyond recognition was completely unscathed. The demonic flames writhing on the long sword in his hand had unleashed a massive blade of light — sharp as a needle, blazing like lightning — hurtling toward him with an aura that promised the annihilation of all things.
Xu Zhishen shuddered so violently he nearly swallowed his own tongue.
Boom, boom, boom…
The enormous dark blade of light struck the phantom of the mountain peak, blocked on the outside. But the contradictory intent that leaked through — frigid cold mingled with scorching heat, righteous yang entwined with sinister evil — sent Xu Zhishen's limbs cold.
He was certain that if that black flame touched him, he would have no way to neutralize it and would ultimately be burned to charcoal! What kind of freak was this?
Xu Zhishen wasn't the only one alarmed and furious. The warriors of both the Xu family and the Heike family let out collective cries of shock, and even Ba Qingyan's expression turned to one of bewilderment.
With his level of perception, he still hadn't been able to see how Yang Kai had dodged the four-peak killing strike just now.
Even he himself, if he hadn't prepared to flee in advance, would never have been able to emerge unscathed under that kind of overwhelming force. Yet this young man had done exactly that. Ba Qingyan realized with horror that, time and time again, he had underestimated this young man's strength. He wasn't human at all — he was an out-and-out monster!
Xu Zhishen roared with fury. The four mountain peaks he had summoned first circled around him, forming an impenetrable defensive barrier.
He was truly afraid. The terror surging from the depths of his heart made him too scared to expose himself to Yang Kai's sight, fearing that a single misstep would result in his death.
Yang Kai's attacks — combining a divine sense assault laced with the subtleties of space and a burst of Holy Energy — poured toward Xu Zhishen's position. But contrary to expectation, those four peaks not only shielded the wretched old man completely, but even locked down the surrounding space itself. His attacks simply couldn't penetrate to deal any damage.
A fifth peak, then a sixth peak, drifted out from the Hundred Peaks Scroll, each even more grand and imposing than the first four. Xu Zhishen bit the tip of his tongue and spat a mouthful of fresh blood onto the scroll. His previously flagging aura surged wildly upward, and his dim, panicked eyes turned savage. He drove the two peaks, smashing and bombarding them at Yang Kai again and again.
The entire Dragon Cavern Mountain shook violently. Craters appeared one after another in the earth, and fissures spread in every direction.
Yang Kai was incensed: "Old bastard, stop destroying my territory!"
If Xu Zhishen kept this up, the entire mountain would be ruined. If the ground collapsed, the Void Spirit Crystal vein hidden beneath might very well be exposed.
Killing intent surged within Yang Kai like a tide.
Balls of burning demonic flame shot from his hands, swirling around Xu Zhishen's surroundings. Remarkably, those flames didn't dissipate — instead, as more and more were added, they gradually coalesced together. In short order, they formed a vast cloud of black, blazing fire.
The fire cloud enveloped Xu Zhishen and the four mountain peaks guarding him on all sides, continuously searing and burning. Yang Kai, meanwhile, kept feeding demonic flame into the cloud without pause, amplifying its power.
"No… no…" Xu Zhishen screamed in terror. The phantoms of the four peaks surrounding him were growing fainter and fainter under the fire cloud's assault, as though they might vanish at any moment.
Once those four phantom peaks disappeared, it would be the moment of Xu Zhishen's death.
"What are you all standing around for?! Get up here and kill this little beast!" Xu Zhishen frantically roared at the Xu family's Sovereign Realm warriors observing from a distance.
He had been fighting Yang Kai single-handedly all along, wanting to demonstrate his formidable strength and maintain the dignity of an Elder. Who could have guessed that he wasn't a match? With death staring him in the face, he could no longer stand on ceremony and could only beg the family's warriors for help.
From far away, only two of the Sovereign Realm warriors who had come with Xu Zhishen charged forward without hesitation. The rest showed expressions of hesitation, shrinking back and not daring to advance. Some even subtly retreated a few steps.
Xu Zhishen had brought out something as powerful as the Hundred Peaks Scroll and still wasn't Yang Kai's opponent — how would they dare throw away their lives?
The two who had rushed forward hadn't even fully grasped the situation before two balls of demonic flame struck them head-on. Both tried foolishly to block, but in the blink of an eye, the flames engulfed them and could not be extinguished no matter what. Before they could get anywhere near, they rolled on the ground a few times and then lay completely still.