"Grandmaster Yang, the outcome has already been decided. I hope you won't continue to put up a futile resistance, or you may truly get hurt." Ke Tian regarded Yang Kai with a solemn expression.
Yang Kai flashed a grin. "What's this? Playing the harlot while trying to erect a chastity monument?"
Ke Tian's face darkened. "I'm simply offering you kind advice."
Yang Kai laughed heartily. "In that case, I have some words for you as well, old sir."
"What?" Ke Tian's brow furrowed slightly.
Yang Kai's gaze turned cold as he said in a deep voice, "If you had any sense, you'd withdraw immediately — otherwise, I'm afraid your reputation in your twilight years will be utterly ruined!"
Hearing this, Ke Tian's heart lurched. Luo Jin seemed to feel a twinge of unease as well and quickly, silently caught the eye of someone in the crowd.
The very next instant, a burst of sword light erupted from among the onlookers. Qiu Yu of Heavenly Illumination Palace gripped a longsword, his body wreathed in radiance as he transformed into a streak of rainbow light and slashed toward Yang Kai. The strike seemed capable of tearing the sky apart — Qiu Yu had evidently gone all out.
Everyone's attention had been captivated by the earlier battle, and no one had expected Qiu Yu to make a move at a time like this. Only when that flash of sword light blazed into view did the realization strike — Qiu Yu had clearly coordinated with Luo Jin in advance.
Though Qiu Yu's cultivation was only at the first level of the Dao Source Realm, this ambush was delivered with thunderous force. In the span of a single breath, he had already closed the distance to Yang Kai, his momentum overwhelming.
Rather than panicking, Yang Kai laughed. "So you finally couldn't hold back?"
"What?" Qiu Yu's expression changed drastically. He looked up and saw that Yang Kai's eyes were filled with mockery, as though he had anticipated this all along, and was now gazing at him with undisguised derision.
"This is bad!" Qiu Yu's face drained of color. He flicked his longsword, attempting to retreat, but in his haste there was no longer time.
A string of crackling detonations rang out. Five-colored radiance bloomed across Yang Kai's body, and his entire frame seemed to swell by a size. A pressure far surpassing the second level of the Dao Source Realm erupted outward in a thunderous wave.
*Crack...*
The lightning chains binding Yang Kai shattered in an instant. Ke Tian's whole body jolted, and he stared at the scene before him in stunned disbelief, involuntarily stumbling backward several steps.
"Young Master Qiu, be careful!" Luo Jin bellowed.
Qiu Yu's heart turned to ice. He watched helplessly as Yang Kai swung his fist toward him.
In that moment of crisis, he pivoted his longsword and swept out a curtain of sword light to shield himself, hoping it might avert disaster.
The fist met the sword light, and a deafening boom rang out.
The entire void trembled slightly. The brilliant sword light disintegrated instantly under the force of that punch, and the residual power continued onward, slamming into Qiu Yu's body.
"You little brat, how dare you!" A furious roar erupted. The two third-level Dao Source Realm elders who had been accompanying Qiu Yu both sprang into action. One extended a finger and pointed at Yang Kai from a distance, while the other lunged toward Qiu Yu, desperate to rescue him.
Yang Kai stood his ground, ignoring the finger strike entirely. The force on his fist detonated with overwhelming power.
A thunderous boom shook the air as violent energy raged outward in all directions.
Accompanied by a muffled groan and the sickening crack of breaking bones, Qiu Yu's entire body flew backward like a tattered sack.
Though the other elder had rushed to his aid in time, Yang Kai's punch had still left Qiu Yu gravely wounded. Blood sprayed from his mouth in midair before he even landed, his aura collapsing completely.
In that instant, the words Yang Kai had spoken to him earlier flashed through Qiu Yu's mind.
*"Brother Qiu, I see that your brow is darkened today, your gaze is unfocused, your lips are cracked and your tongue is dry, your spiritual sense is scattered, and there's a flush of red on your face. You're about to face a bloody calamity, I'm afraid."*
Qiu Yu was overcome with grief and fury. So this "bloody calamity" was meant to be inflicted by this bastard — in that moment, he almost wished for death.
But before the thought had even finished forming, his head lolled to the side. He slipped into total unconsciousness, whether dead or alive, no one could tell.
"Young Master!" The elder who had caught Qiu Yu went pale with shock, his face turning deathly white.
The other elder stared blankly in that direction, still reeling. Qiu Yu had struck first, and the two of them had been poised to follow up — yet Yang Kai had still managed to wound him. Not only had this dealt a devastating blow to their prestige, but when they returned to Heavenly Illumination Palace, they would have no way to explain this to the Palace Master.
Before the elder could recover his wits, Yang Kai had already closed the distance to his side. The Million Sword materialized gracefully in his hand. Sword intent surged, and sword qi hummed.
"A million sword beams chase the moon and devour the wolf."
*Swish, swish, swish, swish* — the sound of splitting air filled the ears in an endless torrent.
Countless threads of sword qi crisscrossed the sky, rampaging wildly.
"An Emperor Treasure!" The elder's pupils contracted, a flash of horror passing through the depths of his eyes. As he felt the Emperor's might rolling off the Million Sword, his entire body began to tremble.
Under that terrifying imperial pressure, more than thirty percent of his cultivation was suppressed. And with Yang Kai launching a close-range ambush, how could he possibly dodge?
In that desperate moment, the elder could only channel all of his Source Power into a protective barrier and retreat with everything he had.