The various attacks and secret arts clashed with the sandstorm in an instant, wind and sand spraying in all directions. The purple shield's defensive power was indeed outstanding, but this time, the number of enemies targeting Yang Kai was simply too great — and every single one of them was a Return Void Stage powerhouse. The Artifacts they unleashed carried devastating might, far beyond what ordinary warriors could hope to match.
The barrier formed by the purple shield was on the verge of collapsing in just two breaths' time, looking perilously close to breaking apart.
Yang Kai's expression tightened slightly. Just as he was about to deploy another technique to reinforce his defenses, an attack that seemed to change the very color of heaven and earth suddenly bore down from ahead — deceptively slow yet terrifyingly swift. It appeared to be nothing more than a single beam of light aimed at Yang Kai, but when it slammed into the purple shield, it threw the combined force of all those Artifacts and secret arts into utter chaos.
In that instant, Yang Kai's pressure eased dramatically. The sudden turn of events made him raise an eyebrow, and he followed the source of the attack with his gaze — only to spot a middle-aged man in scholar's robes with hair that reached his waist, standing there with his hands clasped behind his back, a leisurely smile playing across his face.
What did this person intend? Yang Kai couldn't quite make sense of it.
The others were even more bewildered. Immediately, someone shouted angrily, "Elder Mo, what are you doing?!"
This long-haired, middle-aged man was none other than Grand Elder Mo Yu of the Qiantian Sect. His individual strength was in no way inferior to Mo Xiaosheng or Cheng Pengxuan — he was actually a step above Jin Shi and the Wind Granny, and his reputation was formidable in its own right.
Hearing this, Mo Yu smiled faintly. "What am I doing? I've taken a fancy to the treasure in that boy's hands — I simply want to kill him and seize his goods. What about it?"
The speaker frowned, his expression full of resentment, but there was no time to pursue the matter further.
Judging from his attack just now, Mo Yu was indeed operating with the intent to kill and rob. Yet in practice, he had done Yang Kai a tremendous favor, as his strike had neutralized the bulk of the incoming attacks.
No one could tell whether Mo Yu's actions were deliberate or accidental. Fuming inwardly, the man could only call out a warning: "Elder Mo, you're free to attack, but could you maybe dial it back a little?"
Mo Yu smiled indifferently and said nothing more, instead studying Yang Kai with great interest.
He was thoroughly curious. Moments ago, Dragon Cave Mountain had been in desperate straits, seemingly on the brink of doom. Who would have thought that at the critical juncture, a woman surnamed Ye would appear out of nowhere? If not for the final incident involving the Imperial Garden, Dragon Cave Mountain should have been peaceful and settled by now.
But because of the Imperial Garden affair, Dragon Cave Mountain had been thrust once more into the eye of the storm — and the situation was even more perilous than before.
He truly wanted to know whether Yang Kai's luck had finally run its course, or whether fortune would once again smile upon him and carry him through this crisis.
As the Grand Elder of the Qiantian Sect, he naturally wasn't so idle as to truly believe in notions of destiny and fortune. However, Yang Kai had once saved the lives of two of his sect's disciples. Mo Yu was not the sort of person who failed to distinguish gratitude from grudges. Having already agreed to Shen Shitao's request, he would naturally do his modest part.
Without Shen Shitao, Mo Yu wouldn't have hesitated to kick a man while he was down. The extraordinary treasure of the Imperial Garden tempted him as well.
Moreover, if Yang Kai truly died, Mo Yu would be the very first to snatch up his spatial ring.
After that single strike, he held back and simply observed, his attention drawn primarily to the Void King-grade Artifact Refining Furnace — the intense energy fluctuations radiating from it left him astonished, and he had no idea what exactly was hidden inside.
Meanwhile, the enemies surrounding Yang Kai, their killing intent still fixed firmly upon him, had already regrouped. Their Artifacts hummed and buzzed as they prepared to unleash a fresh barrage of attacks.
It was at that moment that a series of sharp, whistling sounds suddenly pierced the air from one side. Accompanying these sounds came a wave of scorching heat that enveloped the entire battlefield. At the same time, golden lashes that looked like whips descended from the sky, cracking down upon the enemies with brutal force.
Every single strike was extraordinarily powerful, enough to make faces drain of color.
Those enemies who had been preparing to attack Yang Kai were horrified, and they hurriedly raised their own defenses.
"This is...!" Mo Yu's eyes went wide, and he stared in disbelief toward the source of the assault — only to discover that it was, in fact, a towering tree standing more than a dozen zhang tall, its branches and leaves thick and luxuriant.
The tree blazed with a brilliant golden radiance that dazzled the eye. As its branches swayed, countless golden leaves cascaded like rain, transforming into streaks of golden light that hurtled toward the enemy ranks like flying knives and arrows.
Those whip-like attacks, it was clear, were nothing other than the tree's own branches transformed into weapons.
What truly stunned Mo Yu was not the tree's offensive power, but the fact that on its massive trunk, a set of distinct facial features was plainly visible — and right now, those features were contorted in what could only be described as sheer rage.
The force behind each lashing branch and each golden leaf attack was no less powerful than the full-force blow of a first-level Saint King Stage warrior.
The attacks rained down in a dense, relentless barrage, and the sight was absolutely terrifying.
Even a powerhouse of Mo Yu's caliber, caught in the middle of it, would find himself scrambling to keep up — to say nothing of the others. The enemies currently clustered before Yang Kai were rarely top-tier experts of the third level of Return Void Stage. Trapped beneath these strange and formidable attacks, if they hadn't relied on their sheer numbers, casualties would surely have appeared among them in an instant.
"A Spirit-Linked Ancient Tree!" Mo Yu blurted out in shock. He had never imagined that Dragon Cave Mountain harbored a treasure of this caliber.
Especially not one as rare as a Spirit-Linked Ancient Tree with a pure yang-attribute spiritual nature!