A thunderous boom echoed as the sword technique unleashed by the red-haired man from the Blazing Fire Hall collided with Kang Siran's artifact, unleashing a blinding radiance. Terrifying waves of energy rippled outward in every direction.
At the same time, Yang Kai had already engaged the obese warrior. Though Yang Kai's ambush had come without warning, the fat warrior was clearly no ordinary fighter. Having been selected to participate in this operation and entrusted by Zong Qing and Lian Yuming to guard the cave entrance, he was naturally an elite of the Blazing Fire Hall — one capable of fighting opponents above his own level.
He drew a deep breath, his body swelling even larger, and spat a fire dragon from his mouth that shot forward, leaving Yang Kai almost no room to dodge.
A flash of firelight passed, and Yang Kai's figure seemed to melt away, gradually vanishing into nothingness.
The fat warrior's brow furrowed instinctively. He felt that Yang Kai shouldn't be so easy to kill, yet when he scanned the area, he couldn't find the faintest trace of him. A knot formed in his stomach as an ominous feeling crept over him.
At that precise moment, an unusual force materialized behind him. No sooner had it taken shape than it enveloped him like a cage. In an instant, the space around him became impossibly viscous, giving him the sensation of sinking into a swamp. The force not only hampered the mobility of his body but also disrupted the circulation of energy within him.
"A Domain! How is that possible!" the fat warrior cried out in shock.
He was a Void King Realm, Third Stage warrior himself, and his own Domain had already reached the stage of perfection. In battle, his Domain naturally shrouded his body at all times as a precaution.
Yet when his opponent's Domain was deployed, he was stunned to discover that his own had been utterly suppressed!
They were both at the Void King Realm, Third Stage — how could the other's Domain be so terrifying? Compared to it, his own Domain was laughably weak, like a child's game.
Moreover… within that Domain, there seemed to be a bizarre and incomprehensible force — one that could influence space itself.
Panic seized him. He bit down hard on the tip of his tongue, spraying a mouthful of vital blood, and simultaneously let out a frenzied roar as he desperately forced his Source Power into overdrive, trying to break free from the Domain's suppression and binding.
Cracking sounds rang out as every bone in the fat warrior's body ground against itself, the noise setting one's teeth on edge.
Behind him, Yang Kai watched coldly. A long sword materialized in his palm, and energy from within surged into the blade. Accompanied by a clear, resonant hum, Yang Kai's body wrapped itself in sword light and transformed into a whirlwind. The tip of the blade flickered with brilliance as he slashed toward the fat warrior's neck.
Before the sword light even arrived, an indescribable force had already engulfed the fat warrior.
The fat warrior's body shuddered. His perpetually narrowed eyes flew wide open as though he had seen a ghost in broad daylight, his face frozen in utter disbelief.
Light flashed, and Yang Kai reappeared before the fat warrior, sword in one hand, casually flicking a droplet of crimson blood from the blade.
The fat warrior stood rooted in place, staring blankly at Yang Kai. A rasping sound came from his throat as if he were trying to speak, but in the end only two words escaped: "Laws…"
As the word left his lips, his corpulent body collapsed like a punctured balloon, rapidly deflating. At the same time, a blood-red line appeared across his neck, and blood erupted from it like a fountain. The force of the spray launched his severed head into the air.
Thud… the fat warrior's headless corpse toppled backward onto the ground.
"You… you dare kill my Senior Brother!" On the other side, the red-haired warrior was struck with horror and screamed at the top of his lungs.
More than the death of his senior brother itself, he could scarcely believe that Yang Kai had succeeded in so short a time. He knew his senior brother's strength better than anyone — that man was an elite among elites of the Blazing Fire Hall. How could his head be lopped off in a matter of moments by someone at the same Void King Realm, Third Stage?
As he screamed, he sucked in sharp breaths, feeling a bone-deep chill spreading through his entire body.
Yang Kai raised his head and spoke icily: "So what if I killed him? You're next!"
"Ah!" The red-haired warrior flinched and stumbled backward in terror.
Yang Kai barked: "Brother Kang, don't hold back!"
With that, Yang Kai was already enveloping himself in sword light once more, charging toward the red-haired warrior with his blade descending. Seeing this, Kang Siran gritted his teeth and poured everything into his artifact, attacking the red-haired warrior from the opposite side.
Though the red-haired warrior was no weaker than his obese senior brother, Yang Kai and Kang Siran were not to be trifled with either. Under their combined assault, the red-haired warrior could do nothing but take the beating — he had no room to counterattack at all. Moreover, given the terrain, he couldn't even flee.
Half a cup of tea later, the red-haired warrior too lay in a pool of his own blood.
Only then did Kang Siran look at Yang Kai as if seeing him for the very first time, studying him up and down with undisguised astonishment shining in his eyes.
Though Manager Kang had known Yang Kai for some time, this was the first time they had truly fought side by side. Before this, Kang Siran had never imagined that Yang Kai's strength was so formidable.
"That sword in your hand — it's a Dao Source grade artifact, isn't it?" Kang Siran gazed thoughtfully at the weapon in Yang Kai's grip.
Yang Kai grinned and nodded. "It is."
The long sword was the very one Han Leng had wielded before. After Han Leng's death, it had naturally become Yang Kai's spoils of war. And while Yang Kai himself had not yet reached the Dao Source Realm, he had absorbed and refined so much fragmented Laws power inside the Five-Colored Pagoda that he could call upon a measure of Laws force. Paired with this sword and his Space techniques, cutting down warriors of the same level was no effort at all.