"Dragon's Breath…" Xiao Baiyi cried out in shock. From where Yang Kai stood, he could sense the aura of a True Dragon. Though the aura wasn't overwhelming, the innate, terrifying pressure it carried shook him to his very core.
Before the words had even left his lips, a magnificent golden phantom of a True Dragon materialized behind Yang Kai. The dragon shadow was impossibly vast, coiling behind him as it slowly opened its eyes and cast a glance in Xiao Baiyi's direction.
Xiao Baiyi's back was instantly drenched in cold sweat, and he involuntarily stumbled back several steps.
"Brother Baiyi, your strength is considerable, so I'll have to get serious. You… watch yourself!" Yang Kai's words fell and his sword trembled, unleashing a brilliant display of five-colored radiance. The Five Elements Immortal Sword Qi surged outward in every direction, dispersing the sea of lightning hell in a single breath and revealing Yang Kai's towering figure.
The golden dragon phantom behind him raised its head and roared at the heavens. As its dragon cry resounded across heaven and earth, it transformed into a streak of flowing light that plunged into the blade of the sword. Carried by Yang Kai's sweeping slash, it screamed forward.
In that moment, time seemed to stretch across tens of millions of years, crossing countless spans of space and time. The might of a True Dragon was enough to shatter the very edge of the world.
Cold sweat poured down from Xiao Baiyi's temples. Oppressed by the boundless pressure, he staggered back several steps, but quickly gritted his teeth and forced himself to stand firm. He pushed his Source Force to its limits, reinforcing his body's stellar defenses, while simultaneously summoning a mirror-like defensive Artifact that expanded into a barrier of light, shielding him from the front.
Boom…
The golden slash struck home, and violent energy erupted outward. The entire Discussion Platform hummed and shuddered as though the end of the world had arrived, the turbulent spiritual energy fluctuations refusing to subside for a long time.
Yang Kai's gaze was sharp as a blade, cold and piercing as he stared ahead.
A dozen zhang away, Xiao Baiyi hung in the air, his face deathly pale. The light barrier formed by his mirror Artifact still stood before him, but it was riddled with countless cracks. In the next breath, it shattered with a deafening crash into innumerable fragments.
His eyes trembled violently, and the divine weapon in his hand emitted an unceasing wail.
Their gazes met across the distance. Xiao Baiyi clenched his teeth and snarled: "You're only at the First Layer of the Dao Source Realm… how is it possible to reach this level?"
Yang Kai replied calmly: "Strength isn't judged by the height of one's cultivation. Surely Brother Baiyi understands this much?"
"I don't believe it!" Xiao Baiyi roared. A violent aura suddenly erupted from within him as his Source Force, which should have been dormant, surged forth in a torrent. He raised his long sword and howled: "This is my final technique. Block it, and you win. Fail to block it, and you die!"
Hearing this, Yang Kai's expression grew solemn. He knew Xiao Baiyi was about to unleash his ultimate technique—a life-or-death move at the level of the Third Layer of the Dao Source Realm was no trivial thing to withstand.
He immediately steadied his breathing and focus, secretly channeling his Source Force.
As Xiao Baiyi finished speaking, his expression turned utterly solemn, his face taking on a look of devout reverence. He flicked a finger against his long sword, which hummed in response. His entire body then dissolved into countless streams of light that descended from the sky.
An astonishing pressure abruptly descended. The void shook, giving one the sensation that heaven and earth were tearing apart.
A deep, resonant chant drifted slowly from above: "Heavenly Sword… Star Breaker!"
As the words fell, countless orbs of light exploded across the sky and crashed downward like an avalanche of meteors—impossible to evade, filling one with absolute despair.
Yang Kai's eyes blazed with brilliant light. He launched himself forward rather than retreating, abandoning his long sword entirely as his hands formed a series of seals. The power of Space coiled around his body, and the Laws of Space abruptly spread outward.
Countless pitch-black moon blades shot upward to meet the descending radiance. Accompanied by thunderous booms, one black hole after another tore open in the void, swallowing the inconceivable, world-destroying waves of energy without a trace. The violent energy fluctuations rattled one's very soul, as though the Discussion Platform itself were about to sink into oblivion.
Yang Kai's figure flickered like lightning through the void, darting and flashing as he searched for Xiao Baiyi's silhouette.
Suddenly, his eyes narrowed. Channeling his Source Force, he sent a palm strike hurtling toward a specific location.
Crack…
The sound rang out, accompanied by two muffled groans. Yang Kai staggered backward, his face ashen, while in the empty void nearby, Xiao Baiyi's pale form materialized, his aura feeble. With a face full of unwillingness, he plummeted downward.
The celestial phenomena that had filled the sky vanished in an instant, leaving behind nothing but the solemn, desolate atmosphere of a great battle concluded.
Xiao Baiyi crashed heavily to the ground, then immediately kipped back up—only to find he couldn't steady himself. His body swayed precariously, and he had to brace himself with his sword to keep from collapsing.
Every inch of exposed skin on his body had cracked open, blood flowing ceaselessly from within.
On his chest, a clear palm print was imprinted.
That single palm strike was the only wound Yang Kai had inflicted on him. Everything else had come from his own overexertion!
Yang Kai stood in midair, looking down at the hand he'd struck with. It, too, was bleeding—the entire palm had been punctured through, the pain excruciating. Traces of law force lingered in the wound, hindering its healing.
He flicked the blood from his hand and channeled his power to dissolve the residual law force. "Brother Baiyi, this Heavenly Sword technique seems to have exceeded what you can wield. Was it really necessary to go this far?"
Though Yang Kai didn't know exactly what secret arts Xiao Baiyi had mastered, that final sword clearly wasn't something he was currently capable of executing. Forcing it out had necessarily caused severe harm to himself, and Xiao Baiyi's current state was proof enough.