"You dare kill my Xie Family disciple, brat!" When Xie Quan saw that the burly man had actually been killed, he flew into a rage.
"So I killed him. What are you going to do about it?" Yang Kai's expression was savage, wreathed in demonic flames like an ancient fierce god descended upon the world. Cold light flickered in his eyes.
As he spoke, he channeled a stream of Sacred Yuan into the Void King grade artifact furnace that hovered in midair. The furnace immediately began spinning rapidly, and as it spun, strange tongues of flame shot forth from within, transforming into fire birds that blasted outward in every direction, blotting out the sky.
Those fire birds were like miniature versions of the artifact spirit, looking no different in appearance, except that neither in size nor in imposing aura could they compare to the true spirit. This was simply the fire-attribute spiritual energy stored within the Void King grade artifact furnace. Having been baked in the Earth Lung Fire Vein for tens of thousands of years, the furnace itself was naturally no longer an ordinary object. In past battles, Yang Kai had only needed to release the artifact spirit. But this time, facing so many Return to Void Realm cultivators, he didn't dare slack off—even the furnace's own power was brought to bear.
The artifact spirit fire birds spread their wings in unison. Countless fireballs formed in a leisurely cascade, then plummeted downward like a swarm of locusts devouring everything in their path.
The combined assault made the faces of every Return to Void Realm cultivator contort with shock as they scrambled to evade.
Tianyun City, already ablaze with towering flames, suffered further devastation. Within a hundred-zhang radius, every house and shop was reduced to ashes, the earth scorched to black desolation. More than a dozen cultivators who failed to dodge in time were slain on the spot.
Rings of force crashed down from above. Xie Quan's expression turned savage: "Brat, those two old codgers have left. Let's see how a single Sacred King Realm cultivator like you escapes!"
More than a dozen layers of force overlapped and stacked, giving Yang Kai the illusion that every step required monumental effort. Two golden threads shot from his hands, frantically slicing through the invisible force and drastically weakening its power. Yang Kai then took a single stride forward, and after that step, his figure blurred violently—every Return to Void Realm cultivator present lost sight of him entirely.
Yang Kai had even resorted to his Space Force. Though he hadn't torn space open directly, this single step had already broken through spatial constraints.
When his figure reappeared, he stood behind Xie Quan.
"Brother Xie, watch out!" The goateed old man cried out the moment Yang Kai materialized.
Xie Quan's face changed drastically. A layer of white mist erupted from his body, shrouding him so completely that his figure vanished from sight. Yang Kai snorted coldly and sent a golden thread lancing into the white mist, coiling around it.
A faint squelch sounded, followed by Xie Quan's scream. The white mist around him contracted for an instant, then violently exploded outward, once again revealing his figure.
But when everyone saw the scene before them, they were struck dumb.
Xie Quan stood rooted to the spot, face ashen, staring in disbelief at the golden thread that had pierced clean through his chest and abdomen. Horror twisted his features, and his eyes brimmed with wariness and shock—he didn't dare move so much as an inch.
The other end of the golden thread was wound around Yang Kai's fingertip.
He had been subdued by Yang Kai this easily! Not only had everyone else failed to anticipate it, even Xie Quan himself hadn't. He only knew that the golden thread was utterly bizarre and incomparably sharp—his protective Sacred Yuan couldn't stop its penetration at all, or it would never have pierced his body and brought him so easily under control.
A shrill bird cry rang out once more. The dozen-zhang artifact spirit fire bird circled above Yang Kai's head, its lively eyes darting about. Every Return to Void Realm cultivator it fixed its gaze upon blanched. Though their exchange with the artifact spirit had been brief, everyone had witnessed its terrifying might. In a one-on-one fight, none of them was its match, and even joining forces couldn't hope to subdue it. This artifact spirit's strength, even if not quite at Return to Void Stage Three, was not far removed.
"If you move, you die!" Yang Kai's voice was like a freezing gale from the nine hells, blowing past Xie Quan's ear and sending a chill welling up from the depths of his heart.
Seeing Xie Quan stand perfectly still, Yang Kai's face flickered with satisfaction. He raised his eyes to the other Return to Void Realm cultivators and said coldly, "I already told you—I came here today for two things. The first is done. Now let's discuss the second."
"What do you want?" Xie Quan's voice was bitter.
"Return all the Holy Crystals that Dragon Cave Mountain paid in advance and that you stole from us!" Yang Kai snorted.
"They're in my Space Ring. Take them if you want them," Xie Quan answered through clenched teeth. A man under another's eaves had no choice but to bow his head.
Yang Kai's gaze flicked to his finger. Another golden thread shot out and coiled around Xie Quan's finger. The next instant, the severed finger and the ring flew back to Yang Kai's hand together.
Blood sprayed. Xie Quan's face went white as he clenched his teeth against the searing agony, yet still didn't dare make the slightest move.
Yang Kai's Divine Sense swept through the ring, and a look of mockery surfaced on his face. He sneered, "This amount seems a little… insufficient, doesn't it?"
More than insufficient—nearly half was missing. Dragon Cave Mountain had ordered materials from the Shadow Moon Hall worth twenty million Holy Crystals, but the ring held only ten million. Where the other half had gone was anyone's guess.