Right in the center of the foreign valley, there had once been a massive pit — the one Yang Kai had dug while searching for blood beads. As time passed and dust swirled, the pit had been half-buried by sand and soil, leaving less than a zhang of depth.
Now, around this shallow pit, sinister auras churned and writhed toward the heavens. If you looked closely, you could even make out that the auras were split into two streams, locked in fierce combat with each other.
No one knew how long this clash of auras had been going on. Neither side could gain the upper hand.
Then one day, both streams suddenly surged toward the center. Without a sound, they vanished into nothingness. The murky world instantly brightened, and heaven and earth returned to clarity.
Some time later, with a sudden sound, a figure shot up from the pit. The robust body was as graceful as a swallow in flight, landing steadily on the ground.
He shook the dust from his body and drew a deep breath. Standing quietly in place, his brows furrowed, he seemed lost in thought.
Yang Kai had finally emerged from seclusion!
The resentful wills of the two fallen demon beasts had almost forcibly shown him the entirety of their battle. It was truly a fight that shook heaven and earth — one for the ages. Yang Kai had watched the two demon beasts clash ceaselessly, wound and bleed, then press on without the slightest hesitation, rushing at each other again and again, dealing devastating blows, until both perished together.
It was the kind of battle where death was certain, yet neither retreated. A battle fought with the full dignity and honor of the beasts on the line!
Before this, Yang Kai hadn't even known that demon beasts possessed such courage — a spirit no less fierce than any human powerhouse. This brutal, close-quarters melee had left even its sole spectator burning with excitement and brimming with insight.
Moreover, after the residual wills of the two beasts faded away, Yang Kai vaguely felt that something had been added to his body.
In life, the two beasts had never been able to settle their rivalry. After death, using Yang Kai's body as a vessel, they fought once more to fulfill their long-held grudge. Perhaps this was their parting gift to him. Perhaps it was his own comprehension. He couldn't say for sure.
He spread his hands open and looked down at them, sorting through his tangled thoughts. Yang Kai circulated the Yuan Qi inside his body, channeling it in a specific sequence.
After a brief moment, a beast's roar seemed to rumble from within him. He thrust a palm forward, and a crimson figure suddenly flew out along with the palm's force.
A tiger's roar shook the heavens. It was a majestic, lifelish tiger composed entirely of Yuan Qi, its fangs gleaming with cold light at the corners of its mouth. It pounced forward with terrifying speed, jaws snapping and tearing — utterly unstoppable.
He struck another palm, and a mighty, horned bull charged forth, its hooves pounding the ground with thunderous force, like ten thousand galloping horses. It crushed every obstacle in its path, grinding them all to dust — no one could stand in its way!
The Heaven-Shaking White Tiger and the Earth-Rending Divine Ox! Only now, both were formed entirely of Yang Kai's Yuan Qi, their entire forms blazing crimson, making them look even more ferocious and battle-ready.
The two spectral figures charged forward for several hundred zhang before gradually dissolving into motes of light and vanishing into the air.
Yang Kai stared blankly for a moment, then burst into hearty laughter, thoroughly satisfied with what he had gained.
This could already be considered a martial technique, though one born from the residual wills of demon beasts.
It could probably be classified as a type of Beast Soul Technique.
There were many martial techniques throughout the world that mimicked the forms of demon beasts. Back in Nine Yin Valley, Yang Kai had seen Wen Feichen of the Blood Battle Gang use a similar technique, but what Wen Feichen conjured was nothing more than a vague outline of a tiger's head — far from the full picture.
It was incomparable to Yang Kai's current Beast Soul Techniques.
Whether it was the Heaven-Shaking White Tiger or the Earth-Rending Divine Ox, what Yang Kai manifested was the demon beast's complete form, with an expression and bearing as vivid as the real thing. The destructive power they could unleash was naturally several times greater than Wen Feichen's.
With two such similar Beast Soul Techniques in his arsenal, Yang Kai's strength had risen once more.
Based on their forms, these two techniques could be named the White Tiger Seal and the Divine Ox Seal.
Yang Kai glanced around and couldn't help but frown. The amount of sand and soil covering the pit he had dug told him that he must have been in seclusion for a very long time.
"Earth Demon, how much time has passed?" Yang Kai asked in a low voice.
"Over half a year, Young Master!"
Yang Kai couldn't help but inhale sharply. No wonder he felt so famished — his stomach was practically gnawing at itself. If it hadn't been that long, he wouldn't have this sensation.
But now was not the time to go hunting for food. Yang Kai shook off the remaining sand, sat cross-legged on the ground, and focused his mind on recalling the insights he had gained while absorbing the two blood beads over half a year ago.
After a long while, he allowed himself a faint smile. "Earth Demon, watch me perform a little trick!"
"A trick?" The Earth Demon was puzzled.
Yang Kai smiled without answering. He simply calmed his mind and detonated the Yang Liquid within his dantian one droplet at a time.
About half a day later, a sudden gust of fierce wind swept across the open ground. Yang Kai's body shuddered slightly, and his aura surged dramatically upward.
The Earth Demon was utterly astonished. Without any warning, Yang Kai had broken through an entire realm, reaching the sixth level of the Separation-Union Realm.
How was this possible? Over half a year ago, the Young Master had absorbed a massive amount of energy, yet there had been no sign of a breakthrough — he had remained at the fifth level of the Separation-Union Realm the entire time. But now, after simply sitting quietly for half a day, he had broken through? He hadn't been circulating any cultivation technique, nor had he absorbed any energy from heaven and earth. In other words, the energy within his body hadn't increased by even a fraction.
How had he broken through? The Earth Demon couldn't make sense of it.