Almost certain death lay before him. Zi Long knew there was no escape no matter what he did.
A flash of defiance flickered through his eyes as he stared with venomous hatred toward Yang Kai's position. Then his hands formed a rapid sequence of seals, his face flushing crimson as his entire body swelled outward like a balloon. Ropes of bulging veins writhed across his face in grotesque relief, a truly horrifying sight. At the same time, wildly chaotic energy fluctuations erupted from his body.
"This is bad—he's going to self-destruct!" The Ghost Ancestor's face drained of color, and even the soles of his feet cramped with dread.
Though he was a full ten li from Zi Long, the self-destruction of a second-level Void King was not something that distance could neutralize. If Zi Long truly detonated himself, the void within several hundred li would likely be swallowed whole.
The Ghost Ancestor couldn't guarantee he would survive such a blast.
He immediately understood that Zi Long had truly been cornered—otherwise, why would a second-level Void King choose such a drastic, final measure?
"Daydreaming!" Yang Kai's expression was equally grim. He extended a finger and summoned a pale azure bead, then frantically poured his Holy Yuan and Divine Sense into it.
In the span of a single breath, Yang Kai seemed to wither, his aura visibly weakening. Yet the pale azure bead only flickered with the faintest glow.
"Go!" Yang Kai flicked his finger across the bead, and a thread-thin arc of lightning shot forth from its surface, streaking straight toward Zi Long.
Cold sweat poured from the Ghost Ancestor's forehead, his eyes nearly bulging from their sockets as he stared at that seemingly insignificant arc of lightning, his heart shaking violently.
He could feel a aura of absolute destruction radiating from it—a force that stripped him of even the will to resist.
This power seemed to transcend the Void King realm entirely, as though it held dominion over heaven and earth itself.
"Heh heh… Running out of tricks, are you? Even if I die, you won't escape unscathed!" Zi Long laughed bitterly, mocking the feeble arc of lightning heading his way, convinced Yang Kai had nothing left.
But all he saw in return was Yang Kai staring back at him with the same mocking contempt.
Zi Long's brow furrowed—and in that instant, the thin arc of lightning surged before his eyes and vanished in a flash.
The next moment, his entire body went numb, as though struck by divine lightning from the nine heavens. His mind froze solid.
From the corner of his eye, he saw countless threads of lightning crawling across his skin like spirit serpents, and under their devastating power, his once-proud second-level Void King body began to crumble and disintegrate. His strength melted away like snow beneath the blazing sun.
His distended body deflated at an astonishing rate.
"This… is impossible!" Zi Long roared in defiance.
The next instant, the small Heaven-Shaking Pillar crashed down, and the firebird Liuyan's thunderfire consumed him entirely.
Three breaths later, the dust settled. Where Zi Long had stood, nothing remained—not a trace. The master of Purple Star had been obliterated beyond recognition, leaving behind only his spatial ring, which shot off into the distance under the residual force.
Liuyan spun around, reverting to human form, and gave chase after the spatial ring.
"Pfft—" Yang Kai spat out a mouthful of blood, his complexion paper-white. He sat cross-legged in the void, retrieved a healing pill, swallowed it, and began circulating his cultivation technique to recover.
The Ghost Ancestor stood nearby, staring blankly.
He had watched the entire battle from start to finish. Though he and Yang Kai had initially combined forces to wound Zi Long, he had contributed nothing in the final moments. In other words, Yang Kai deserved at least eighty percent of the credit for killing Zi Long.
Perhaps… even without his help, Yang Kai could have accomplished this.
The thought startled the Ghost Ancestor badly.
A newly broken-through Void King, capable of slaying someone like Zi Long? Was this kid even human?
The Ghost Ancestor stared at Yang Kai as though looking at a monster.
What shocked the Ghost Ancestor even more was the pale azure bead Yang Kai had summoned in that final moment—that was clearly an extraordinary Artifact, though the Ghost Ancestor couldn't determine its exact grade.
While he stood in a daze, Xiao Xiao and the firebird returned simultaneously, flanking him on either side. They fixed him with distinctly unfriendly stares.
"What?" The Ghost Ancestor's mouth twitched. "This old man is the Grand Elder of the Lingxiao Sect, on the same side as your master. Stop looking at me like that—as though I'm about to do him harm."
He understood that Xiao Xiao and the firebird were only on guard because Yang Kai was healing nearby, so he held no grudge.
But Xiao Xiao and the firebird remained unmoved, standing their ground with an unmistakable readiness to strike should he make a single suspicious move.
"No need for that." A deep, resonant voice suddenly echoed through the air, nearly deafening. "You two, stand down."
Liuyan heard the voice and withdrew without hesitation. Xiao Xiao scratched its head, still looking somewhat confused, and Liuyan reached over, grabbed it, and pulled it to her side, giving it a light rap on the head.
Xiao Xiao drooped its head in grievance.