Fists and palms collided, and a gentle wave of hidden force surged into Yang Kai's body, coursing through his meridians. It slowed the circulation of his Yuan Qi, making the channels in his arms feel limp and numb under the Qingfeng Palm's energy.
Nie Yong grinned savagely. "Yang Kai, today your senior brother will cripple one of your arms — consider it a small lesson!"
A fierce, murderous look flashed across Yang Kai's face. The Yuan Qi inside his body surged violently, fighting against the invasion of the Qingfeng Palm's force and instantly foiling Nie Yong's plan.
"You still dare to resist!" Nie Yong gritted his teeth, embarrassed that he hadn't taken Yang Kai down in a single move. He struck again with another palm, mocking, "Your Yuan Qi is fairly rich, I'll give you that, but the force behind it is pathetic! Let's see how you handle this!"
Another gentle breeze swept toward him, but this time, hidden currents lurked within the soft wind — clearly there were follow-up changes waiting to unfold.
Yang Kai stopped holding back. All thirty-six meridians in his body surged with power. A full day of bitter training now showed its results.
Blazing Sun Burst!
"I told you your force is pathetic!" Nie Yong sneered repeatedly. Before his words even faded, the gentle palm energy suddenly transformed into a violent gale and torrential wave, rolling toward Yang Kai with devastating force. He had clearly made up his mind to truly cripple one of Yang Kai's arms.
Yang Kai's Blazing Sun Burst erupted at the same instant.
A thunderous boom shook the air as a ball of firelight exploded outward. The flash of radiance lit up the area for several dozen feet as bright as broad daylight, blinding everyone.
"What?!" Nie Yong's face went pale with shock. His Qingfeng Palm had concealed a devastating transformation, but he never imagined that Yang Kai's seemingly ordinary punch held one too. The two techniques were startlingly similar in nature. Palm wind and fist force detonated simultaneously, and the two were dead even.
Two muffled grunts rang out. Nie Yong staggered backward, stumbling more than a dozen yards before a massive tree finally stopped his retreat. He could no longer hold back, and a mouthful of fresh blood sprayed from his lips — he had taken a serious wound.
Yang Kai was far from unscathed either. His cultivation was six or seven minor levels below Nie Yong's. Being able to trade blows using his martial technique's power alone was already remarkable. If Nie Yong was injured, there was no way Yang Kai escaped untouched.
But he showed not the slightest hint of defeat. After forcing Nie Yong back with a single exchange, the bones in his body rang out with a resonant clang. Warm currents flooded through his entire frame, and his Yuan Qi surged with restless fury.
Moving with the speed of wind and thunder, he threw four rapid punches at the four figures surrounding him. Four balls of firelight blazed to life simultaneously. The violent shockwaves and destructive force left everyone stunned.
These four were even stronger than Nie Yong, and Yang Kai had launched his attacks in a rush, so naturally he couldn't wound them.
But by the time they had blocked his strikes, Yang Kai had already vanished from sight.
From far away, Yang Kai's voice drifted back: "Nie Yong, next time we meet, I will take your life!"
His voice wavered and echoed, making it impossible for anyone to determine which direction he had fled.
"Junior Brother Nie!" One of them hurriedly looked toward Nie Yong and saw blood still trickling from the corner of his mouth. His eyes burned with deep unwillingness — and a trace of wariness. His expression was none too pleasant.
"Are you alright?"
"Fine!" Nie Yong forced himself upright. "Yang Kai is wounded. After him — we absolutely cannot let him escape!"
"Chase him?" One of them hesitated. Truthfully, they had no grudge against Yang Kai. They had only come here to back up Nie Yong and put on a show for Xie Hongchen. Now that the target had fled, what was the point of chasing him into these mountains? Who knew what dangers lurked in these peaks and forests? If they ran into one or two powerful demon beasts, they could all end up dead.
Nie Yong sensed the shift in their attitudes and quickly added, "Brothers, you all saw the power of his martial technique, didn't you? That's what he obtained just the other day! With that technique alone, he was able to wound me — are you telling me that doesn't interest you?"
Hearing this, the disciples of Lingxiao Pavilion all perked up.
After a moment of hesitation, one of them spoke: "Fine, we'll chase. But let's get one thing straight first — we're only after that martial technique. Whatever grudge exists between you and Yang Kai, settle it yourselves. Don't drag us into it. Whether you kill him or cripple him, you bear all the consequences on your own."
"Of course!" Nie Yong's expression turned savage. "Daring to threaten me — how dare he threaten me! Who does he think he is, saying he'll take my life! Let me get my hands on him and we'll see whose life gets taken!"
With that, he bolted forward. The other four exchanged glances, all privately thinking Yang Kai was as good as finished. If Nie Yong caught up to him this time, his life would certainly be over.
Nie Yong had killing intent in his heart!
Beside the small lake where Lan Chudie and Du Yishuang had bathed earlier, Yang Kai finally let out the breath he'd been holding and coughed up a mouthful of blood.
Though he had narrowly escaped moments ago, the sheer danger of that brief exchange was something no one besides Yang Kai himself could truly comprehend.
Every single one of them was a genuine Qi Movement Realm cultivator. The weakest, Nie Yong, was already at the fourth level of the Qi Movement Realm, and the strongest among them was probably at the seventh or eighth level.
They were nothing like the enemies he had encountered in Nine Yin Valley. In fact, any one of them would have been roughly equivalent to Wen Feichen at the time when his cultivation had been sealed.
If not for Blazing Sun Burst, his sudden burst technique, Yang Kai never could have broken through their encirclement.
Five punches exchanged with five different opponents. Five streams of hidden force had surged into his body. Setting aside the injuries for the moment, those five currents of energy were still racing through his meridians, disrupting his own Yuan Qi circulation. If he didn't find a safe place to neutralize these hidden forces soon, they could leave lasting damage.
The pursuers behind him were drawing ever closer. Yang Kai bent down, quickly buried the blood he had spat out, and then plunged straight into the lake.
He didn't know what dangers the jungle might hold, but in his current state, if he encountered anything threatening, he would have no power to fight back. His only option was to retrace his steps along the path he had already traveled — the only route he knew to be safe.
And this lake was the perfect hiding spot. If Nie Yong and his group were too afraid to come down and search, that was exactly what Yang Kai wanted. But if they dared to dive in, they would have to face his counterattack.