"What the hell?" Wuchang's brow furrowed tightly, his face blank with bewilderment.
He simply couldn't understand why this Pill Tribulation felt like all thunder and no rain. One moment it had been surging with menace, divine might rolling across the sky, and the next the winds had died down, the storm clouds had vanished without a trace.
None of them could make sense of it.
"Scram!"
And in the instant everyone stood frozen in a daze, Yang Kai suddenly erupted with a furious roar. Accompanying that shout, surging Source Power surged outward in all directions, a staggering wave of pressure radiating from his body.
Bang, bang, bang, bang—he was fighting someone!
At the sound, everyone's expressions shifted. They hastily turned to look toward where Yang Kai stood.
There he was, rooted in place, one hand clamped over the top of his pill furnace while the other moved through rapid, ever-shifting motions, energy surging and transforming into countless afterimages that lashed out in every direction.
And at his side, a figure darted back and forth at tremendous speed, the distance between them fluctuating wildly. It seemed the figure was trying to break through his assault and close in on him, aiming to snatch the batch of freshly refined Spirit Pills!
But no matter how hard this person tried, they simply could not get within three feet of Yang Kai. Every attempt was deftly shut down.
"Luo Yuan!" Lan Xun's delicate brows drew together as she cried out his name.
She recognized the one clashing with Yang Kai in an instant—it was Luo Yuan of the Eight Directions Gate!
No one knew where he had been hiding before. While every last person had been captivated by the Pill Tribulation, he had seized the moment to launch a sudden attack, trying to make off with the Supreme Marvel Pills. Unfortunately, at the last possible second his plan fell short, and Yang Kai had blocked him.
He had underestimated Yang Kai far too much. He'd assumed that since Yang Kai was merely a first-level Dao Source Realm cultivator who had just endured an exhausting refinement process, he would be no match at all.
But the moment they clashed, he realized how catastrophically wrong he had been.
Yang Kai stood in place and appeared entirely on the defensive, yet he was fighting from a position of calm advantage. His Source Power was vast and exquisitely pure, his defense watertight. In the short time they had exchanged blows, Luo Yuan had been unable to break through.
A miscalculation!
Luo Yuan cursed inwardly, knowing he had already squandered his chance.
His original plan had been to grab the Supreme Marvel Pills and flee. But now, not only had he failed to seize them, he had been pinned down by Yang Kai. The others had already recovered their wits. If he didn't have the sense to withdraw now, he'd likely face a coordinated assault from everyone present.
With that thought, Luo Yuan threw out a feint, pulled back, and drifted lightly to a spot over a dozen yards away. His face was dark as he glared at Yang Kai in cold fury, as if blaming him for ruining his plans.
Though Yang Kai's complexion was slightly pale, he still flashed a grin and quipped, "Quite the scheme you cooked up, Brother Luo Yuan. You've been lurking there for quite some time, haven't you?"
"Hmph!" Luo Yuan let out a cold snort, not answering Yang Kai's question directly. Instead he said, "There's something odd about you…"
He meant, roughly, that Yang Kai's true strength bore no resemblance to his cultivation level.
Yang Kai merely smiled, his gaze sweeping over the crowd. He saw every last person staring at his Black Jade Cauldron with burning eyes, barely restraining themselves. His expression turned stern at once, and he called out in a clear voice: "Everyone, hold on!"
The moment those words left his mouth, everyone indeed remained where they stood, not a single one moving forward. Even Wuchang refrained from rashly making a move against Yang Kai.
Yang Kai's brief exchange with Luo Yuan, though it had lasted only a moment, had been enough for anyone with discerning eyes to see that Yang Kai was no easy mark. Not a single person present had the ability to take him down in an instant.
And if they couldn't subdue him in the blink of an eye, the others would close in. At that point the situation would spiral into chaos beyond anyone's control.
That was a result nobody wanted.
"As you can all see, I have upheld my end of the bargain. The Supreme Marvel Pills have been successfully refined!" As he spoke, Yang Kai actually retrieved a handful of Spirit Pills from his spatial ring and popped them into his mouth.
Everyone saw it clearly. Those pills were unmistakably Source Power recovery pills.
"Now that they're refined, your part is done. Hand them over!" Wuchang declared in a tone that suggested this was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Heh… I was just about to address that very matter." Yang Kai offered him a faint smile, paused for a few breaths, then continued: "The pills have been refined, but—I will not be handing them over!"
"What did you say?" Wuchang's face turned cold in an instant.
"Courting death, brat!"
"You actually think you can hog these heaven-defying pills? The sheer audacity!"
"Kid, I'll give you one piece of advice—hand the pills over obediently, or we'll all come at you together and tear you to shreds. You're alone; you can't possibly withstand an attack from all of us!"
The moment Yang Kai's words landed, the crowd erupted. Curses, threats, and honeyed persuasion flew from every direction, all manner of voices drifting into Yang Kai's ears.
Yang Kai ignored them all. His expression turned icy as he swept his gaze around the surroundings. "What kind of nonsense are you spouting? The Supreme Treasure Lotus was discovered by me first, and the Supreme Marvel Pills were refined by me alone. Nearly every last ingredient used in the process came from my own hands. You lot simply stood here watching the show, and now you think you deserve to walk away with the Supreme Marvel Pills? Keep dreaming!"
"Now that's a bold brat!"
"Heh heh, this kid must still be asleep, talking big like that. He won't make it past today."
"Why bother arguing? Let's all rush him, kill him, and take the pills!"