Crack… crack… crack…
The sandstorm guarding the outermost perimeter collapsed on contact. The purple shield reappeared, its light dimmed and its spirit greatly diminished, while those lightning arcs, their momentum unabated, surged toward the golden net woven from Golden Blood Threads.
Golden light blazed, lightning serpents danced, and the Golden Blood Threads dimmed sharply. Yang Kai spat out a mouthful of fresh blood, his face turning pale.
The Golden Blood Threads existed somewhere between a secret art and an Artifact, linked directly to the cultivator's consciousness. When the Golden Blood Threads suffered damage, Yang Kai felt the consequences too — the sole drawback of this secret art.
Yang Kai had just taken a small hit.
Fortunately, the Golden Blood Threads' flaws were far outweighed by their formidable power. Woven into a great net, they managed to blunt the invincible lightning arcs considerably, and what remained was greatly weakened in force.
The remnants then crashed into the protective barrier formed by the Artifact Spirit fire bird.
A crisp bird cry rang out, firelight soaring into the heavens. The searing heat warped the space within a hundred zhang, and a raging inferno locked the lightning arcs in a grueling tug-of-war around Yang Kai's body — one side advancing, the other retreating, back and forth in a dead heat.
But Yang Kai's expression was utterly grim.
As the Artifact Spirit's master, he could naturally feel the immense pressure it was bearing.
It couldn't hold!
If he stubbornly let it continue blocking, the Artifact Spirit very likely would have its soul utterly destroyed, vanishing from this world forever.
What kind of Artifact was that bead, exactly? To wield such terrifying power — and why did it also carry the aura of an Emperor's might?
In a mere handful of breaths, the Artifact Spirit's barrier was on the verge of shattering. The towering flames were being snuffed out as though doused with cold water, and its cries had grown noticeably weaker than before.
Yang Kai gritted his teeth and recalled the Artifact Spirit fire bird.
He refused to let the Artifact Spirit perish here.
A streak of red light shot back into Yang Kai's body. Without the fire bird's protection, Yang Kai's body was immediately exposed to the assault of countless lightning arcs. The arcs flickered and leapt like the sharpest blades, raining down upon him in a volley.
Yang Kai's face was deathly pale. At this point, he could only channel his Holy Energy to shield himself.
"Yang Kai, let me help you!" Fei Zhi Tu's voice suddenly came from beside him. He grinned, and without Yang Kai knowing what secret art he had activated, the power that had been sealed within him returned. He then brought forth the Blue Jade Bowl.
A flood of azure light poured from the bowl, cascading like moonlight, condensing into a substance so dense it appeared solid, forming a barrier in front of them.
Hissing and crackling erupted as the lightning arcs plunged into the azure glow, which quickly dimmed.
In no more than three breaths, Fei Zhi Tu coughed up a mouthful of bright crimson blood. His face was white as paper, his aura withered to the point of near extinction.
And the Blue Jade Bowl, his most trusted Artifact, let out a crisp sound before fine cracks spread across its surface — then it shattered completely, fragments scattering across the ground.
A powerful Void Grade High-tier Artifact, destroyed in a single exchange by those lightning arcs!
That only compounded Fei Zhi Tu's desperate condition!
"Old Fei!" Qian Tong's face changed drastically. He watched with alarm as Fei Zhi Tu slowly shook his head, lacking even the strength to speak. He had already suffered severe injuries when he was captured, then had his body pierced through by Qu Zheng's short spear, and now with his Artifact destroyed — a thing bound to his very consciousness — he had truly reached the point of burning the last drop of oil.
However, his sacrifice had not been in vain. After the Blue Jade Bowl's interference, the lightning arcs were a shadow of their former selves. Though still powerful, Yang Kai no longer sensed a lethal threat.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…
The leaping lightning arcs were like steel needles, piercing into Yang Kai's body and leaving countless tiny holes from which blood streamed.
Yang Kai drew a deep breath. Holy Energy surged outward, enveloping both Qian Tong and Fei Zhi Tu. His expression was dark and savage as he looked downward.
Every person present felt their eyelids twitch uncontrollably. They told themselves that under such a ferocious onslaught, there was absolutely no way they could have survived — yet Yang Kai had. Granted, Fei Zhi Tu had risked his life to assist, but to have endured the remaining attacks with his aura not diminished but instead growing more frenzied…
Was he even human? Was his cultivation truly only at the first level of the Return Void Realm?
Fang Peng and Qu Zheng wore stunned expressions, and even the gray-haired elder's face was etched with wariness.
"Yang Kai, get us out of here first! Old Fei, he—" Qian Tong called out urgently.
Yang Kai's frenzied aura abruptly stilled, as if he had returned to his senses. He gave a slight nod, then bit the tip of his tongue and spat out a single drop of golden blood. The droplet shimmered briefly before vanishing into the void, disappearing to who knew where.
Immediately after, a bizarre ripple of energy undulated from the space before Yang Kai, and a thin crack suddenly appeared.
At first, the crack was nearly imperceptible, but in moments it began to widen, as though a pair of invisible hands were tearing it apart to either side.