"Master!" Liu Yan finally breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing Yang Kai fight his way through. Her massive body swayed as she reverted to human form, standing respectfully behind him.
Yang Kai glanced over at Zhang Ruoxi, who was currently enveloped within a barrier of black flame. From within those dark flames emanated an aura that was both intimidating and achingly familiar — and in an instant he understood that Liu Yan had devoted her full strength to protecting Zhang Ruoxi. Had it not been for that, Liu Yan might have struggled against these three, but she wouldn't have looked so wretched right from the start.
"You did well. You've worked hard." Yang Kai nodded.
"As expected," Liu Yan replied calmly.
Yang Kai turned his gaze back, sweeping it coldly across the three figures below.
"Who are you?!" Hua Gu had nearly suffered a serious loss at Yang Kai's hands just moments ago and was seething with resentment. "Why would you interfere with our business?"
The corner of Yang Kai's mouth curled upward. "Are you deaf? Did you not hear how she addressed me?"
Hua Gu's brow furrowed. "So you're saying you are this artifact spirit's master?"
"Good — you're not completely brain-dead after all!" Yang Kai mocked.
"Insolent!" Hua Gu roared, his voice vicious. "A mere piece of trash at the first level of the Dao Source Realm — and you think you're worthy of possessing an artifact spirit like this? Boy, I'm giving you a piece of advice: hand over this artifact spirit obediently, and I might just spare your life. Otherwise—"
"Otherwise what?"
"Right here, right now — this will be the place you're buried!" Hua Gu bellowed.
"Ha ha ha ha ha!" Yang Kai burst into laughter, his tone arrogant and untamed, as though the other party was hardly worth his attention. After a moment, the laughter cut short, and his voice dropped to a chilling calm: "Well then, since that's how it is… prepare to die!"
The words barely left his lips before Yang Kai waved his hand.
Accompanying his gesture, a peculiar pressure suddenly descended from the heavens. The canyon below had already been dim, but in an instant it grew far darker still — as though something had blotted out the light source above entirely.
Hua Gu and the others looked up in stunned bewilderment. The next moment, all three cried out in alarm.
"What the hell is that?!"
"This is—"
"No good, dodge!"
The three scrambled, scattering to opposite sides.
Boom…
The earth shook. A colossal figure plummeted from the sky and smashed into the ground, shattering the terrain into pieces. The enormous form appeared to be humanoid — as tall as a seven- or eight-story building, its entire body composed of solid stone with sharp, angular contours…
Hua Gu and his companions stood there, dumbstruck.
For all their experience and knowledge, none of them could immediately identify what this thing was. At first glance, it bore some resemblance to the legendary Stone Demons — but upon closer inspection, they realized it wasn't one.
After all, even a Stone Demon couldn't grow this enormous!
"Oh? You've finally decided to let me out?" The Avatar had no sooner appeared than it was rolling its neck and shaking its arms, looking every bit like someone who hadn't gotten a breath of fresh air in years and was positively starved for freedom.
And in truth, that was exactly the case.
Ever since the Avatar had merged with the Suspended Continent and Yang Kai had joined forces with it to defeat the Purple Star's master, Yang Kai had stowed it away inside the Mysterious World Bead. All these years, the Avatar had never once left.
After all, it had been formed from the fusion of an entire continent — its body was simply too vast.
Whenever Yang Kai wanted to summon it from the Small Mysterious World, he had to expend a tremendous amount of Divine Sense. In the midst of battle, where would he find the spare mental energy to summon the Avatar? He had little choice but to leave it inside.
But as time passed, the unique constitution of the Stone Puppet race had gradually shown its benefits. The Avatar had continuously refined its body, purging impurities, slowly shrinking its massive form.
Still, it wasn't yet at a stage where it could be summoned casually.
The appearance of the Devouring Heaven Art had been a turning point. This technique seemed as though it had been tailor-made for the Avatar. Once it began Cultivating the Devouring Heaven Art, combined with the Stone Puppet race's innate divine abilities, the Avatar's body underwent a dramatic transformation in a remarkably short period.
Even so, by human standards it was still a colossus. The moment Yang Kai had summoned it, he felt that nearly a third of his Divine Sense had been consumed in an instant.
A body this massive delivered an overwhelming visual impact — and combined with the eerie manner of its appearance, Hua Gu and the other two were completely frozen, as if trapped in a dream. They simply couldn't believe their own eyes.
As the Avatar went through its warm-up motions, fragments of stone continually tumbled from its body, clattering to the ground.
Without needing any explanation from Yang Kai, the Avatar understood the situation the moment it appeared — and knew full well that Hua Gu and his companions were enemies, not allies.
It bared its teeth at the stupefied Hua Gu and grinned, its voice resonating like stone grinding against stone: "The third level of the Dao Source Realm? As the first person to die at my hands after all these years, that's not bad enough to insult my dignity!"
"Mm, he's all yours. I'd like to see what kind of abilities you have now." Yang Kai nodded casually.
"There might be a pleasant surprise!" The Avatar chuckled. Even as the words left its mouth, it suddenly hunched forward and threw a punch straight at Hua Gu.
The fist appeared to carry no visible energy — just a simple, direct strike. But the gust of wind it kicked up screamed forward like a gale, threatening to swallow Hua Gu whole.
Horror seized Hua Gu's heart, and he screamed: "Are you kidding me?!"