"Wind Passage!" At the razor's edge between life and death, the Wind-mark warrior let out a bellow. His entire figure flickered on the spot, transforming into a faint breeze that vanished without a trace, fleeing in some unknown direction. This was actually an exceptionally refined escape technique.
Yang Kai sneered ceaselessly. He extended his Dragon Claw and seized the void, gripping and crushing. An invisible force erupted from his body and became the laws of space, suppressing that entire stretch of emptiness.
The Wind-mark warrior's figure tumbled out in a wretched state, his face still plastered with disbelief. He clearly hadn't expected that his strongest life-saving technique would be broken so effortlessly by Yang Kai.
"Ah!" The Thunder-mark warrior and Fire Ghost both cried out in alarm simultaneously.
"Die!" Yang Kai roared. With a single hand he slashed downward toward the Wind-mark warrior's location. An enormous moon blade that spanned between heaven and earth materialized as if crossing over from the endless void — a crescent moon wheel hurtling forward with unstoppable momentum, cleaving toward the Wind-mark warrior.
The Wind-mark warrior's face turned deathly pale in an instant. He swallowed hard in his panic, locked in place by the spatial laws with nowhere to dodge. All he could do was watch death bear down upon him.
"Accumulate Earth to Form a Mountain!" From several dozen zhang away, Mountain Ghost suddenly bellowed. His hands shifted through a rapid series of seals, and the Xumi Peak appeared once more, interposing itself between the moon blade and the Wind-mark warrior. Dense earth-element energy surged outward as scattered rocks and soil were drawn upward from the ground. In the blink of an eye, they coalesced before the Wind-mark warrior into an impenetrable defensive barrier.
BOOM…
The moon blade crashed down and shattered the barrier, but its might had been greatly diminished.
With a crackling blast of lightning, the Thunder-mark warrior transformed into a bolt of electricity and rescued the Wind-mark warrior at the critical moment, teleporting them both to safety.
Yang Kai's expression darkened. He cast a venomous glare toward Mountain Ghost.
Ever since the fight with Blood Blade's group had begun, Mountain Ghost had interfered with his plans time and time again. Had it not been for this man's formidable defensive abilities, there was no way the four of Blood Blade could have held out this long against the full force of Yang Kai's techniques.
If he wanted to kill those four, Mountain Ghost had to be eliminated first. Otherwise, with him standing guard on defense, Yang Kai would never be able to take down the other three — especially with Mountain Ghost anchored in position, his aura fused with the other three to seal off this stretch of heaven and earth, leaving Yang Kai unable even to use his spatial teleportation.
The moment this thought crystallized, Yang Kai hardened his heart. A sinister smile crept across his face as he spoke in a cold voice: "You all truly are resourceful. This Yang has certainly had his eyes opened today."
"Quit your mouth-flapping, brat!" Fire Ghost was shocked by Yang Kai's formidable strength, but with their numbers on their side, they weren't overly afraid. Hearing Yang Kai's words, he shouted: "If you surrender now there's still time. But once we really get going, I make no promises about leaving you alive!"
The Thunder-mark warrior nodded. "Indeed. If we actually kill you, we won't be able to answer to our superiors. Hand yourself over quietly."
The Wind-mark warrior's face was grim. He remained silent, seemingly still shaken by his narrow brush with death.
"Heh heh heh heh…" Yang Kai let out another string of cold laughter.
Fire Ghost snorted. "Stop putting on a show!"
Yang Kai's smile vanished. He regarded Fire Ghost with icy eyes and snorted: "Then keep those dog eyes wide open and watch carefully. See whether I'm putting on a show or not!"
As his words fell, his divine sense surged outward like a tide, and he bellowed: "Come out!"
With the shout, a small mountain abruptly appeared above the desolate wilderness, plummeting from midair and slamming into the earth with enough force to send tremors through the ground, dust and debris billowing upward.
All four of Blood Blade's group froze in bewilderment, staring blankly at the little mountain. Not one of them could fathom what kind of divine ability Yang Kai had just deployed — conjuring an entire mountain out of thin air.
"What in the hell is that?!" The Wind-mark warrior, having gradually calmed down, saw the sight and waved his hand in annoyance. A fierce gust of wind swept through and scattered the dust, bringing the small mountain into clear view before all four.
The next instant, Blood Blade's four companions nearly popped their eyeballs out of their heads, staring slack-jawed at the mountain, their faces masks of pure disbelief.
"Hey, hey, hey… I'm not seeing things, am I?" Fire Ghost couldn't help but shout, swallowing hard as he spoke. "Why do I get the feeling this mountain looks… kind of human-shaped. With two arms and two legs?!"
" gulp! "
The other three swallowed hard as well, their expressions strained to the breaking point.
"What the heck is that thing?!" the Wind-mark warrior exclaimed in alarm.
"There's a woman on it too!" The Thunder-mark warrior's gaze narrowed as he spotted the graceful figure seated atop the mountain's shoulder.
"This is an illusion — this must be an illusion!" Fire Ghost looked thoroughly shaken, his face pale as he muttered to his companions. "Did that little mountain just smile at me? This has gotta be an illusion, dammit!"
"Mm, quite possibly." The Wind-mark warrior adopted a contemplative look. "He probably used some kind of illusion technique."
As he spoke, he turned his head to glance at Yang Kai — only to find Yang Kai watching them all with a cheerful, beaming smile. The smile was loaded with meaning, the kind that sent chills down the spine, and it made the Wind-mark warrior's instincts scream that something was terribly wrong.
"You should have called us out a long time ago." Hua Qingsi sat perched on the Dharma Body's shoulder, swinging her legs back and forth, her lips pursed in a pout. "I really don't know what you were even doing fighting them on your own. What a waste of time and energy."
She appeared to have observed the entire battle with perfect clarity from within the Small Mysterious World.
The Dharma Body grinned, its voice rumbling like muffled thunder: "Well, we're out now, aren't we?"