"How dare you kill someone right before my eyes, you brat! You're courting death!" Qiu Ze raged, his hair bristling with fury. He gritted his teeth and roared, his face a mask of humiliated anger.
With him personally suppressing Yang Kai, the fact that Luo Jin had still been killed would become a laughingstock if word got out. People would think he was nothing but a paper tiger. This was his first battle since advancing to the Emperor Realm, a chance to establish his authority, yet things were going completely sideways.
Yang Kai killing Luo Jin was a direct slap to his face! How could Qiu Ze endure such humiliation?
As his words fell, Qiu Ze flicked his wrist, and a blood-red spear materialized in his hand. The spear thrummed with dense energy fluctuations, covered in layer upon layer of restrictions. It was clearly a high-grade Dao Source Realm Artifact, and it resonated with Qiu Ze's mind, having been blood-refined by him.
Qiu Ze had only recently advanced to the Emperor Realm and did not yet possess an Emperor Artifact. However, given enough time to refine and nurture this spear, it might very well have the potential to evolve into one.
Unfortunately, he didn't have that kind of time.
Being forced to use an Artifact against a mere Dao Source Realm cultivator was somewhat disgraceful, but Qiu Ze couldn't care less about appearances anymore.
With spear in hand, Qiu Ze's aura surged another level. The blood-red spear and his own aura became intimately linked, the two seeming to fuse completely into one, connected by heart and mind. With a thunderous shout, Qiu Ze attacked first, determined to kill Yang Kai with a single blow and salvage his reputation.
*Hisss, hisss...*
Countless streaks of crimson spear light erupted, bombarding toward Yang Kai like a swarm of locusts. The entire sky instantly turned a bloody crimson. The chilling killing intent and violent power spread out, making everyone's faces pale with shock.
Yang Kai's Million Sword was poised and ready. Sword intent surged, and sword light flashed. He shouted in a low voice, "A million swords emerge; one man holds the pass!"
He was currently positioned between Chi Yue and the others and Qiu Ze, so he had absolutely no way to dodge Qiu Ze's attack. If he moved aside, Chi Yue and the others would surely be engulfed by the spear light.
Qiu Ze's move was not only a sneak attack but also cunningly exploited Yang Kai's concern for his companions. It was utterly despicable.
Any ordinary Third-Order Dao Source Realm cultivator would have been utterly powerless to resist, reduced to slag under this strike.
But Yang Kai held an Emperor Artifact. The ultimate defensive technique he unleashed managed to neutralize a significant portion of Qiu Ze's power.
*Boom! Boom! Boom!*
Spear light and sword light collided in midair. Energy tides churned violently. The void shuddered, and heaven and earth seemed to crack apart.
Qiu Ze's expression changed abruptly. He took a step back, his spear twirling to shatter a concealed Moon Blade that had been hidden amidst the sword light into fine dust.
Opposite him, although Yang Kai stood rooted to the spot, several soft *pfft* sounds rang out, and blood splattered from his body. In this exchange, he had clearly taken a minor loss.
Qiu Ze was an Emperor Realm expert after all. The fact that Yang Kai could exchange a single blow with him was already testament to his formidable strength. If he had emerged completely unscathed, that would have been truly terrifying.
"You brat dared to ambush this emperor! Despicable!" Qiu Ze was shocked inwardly, but his face betrayed nothing. His attack had been too hasty, and he hadn't clearly seen the true nature of the Moon Blade, only that the strike was incredibly sinister.
Yang Kai smirked. "An old dog like you says that without feeling a shred of shame?"
Qiu Ze naturally understood his implication but had no intention of arguing. With a swirl of his spear, another ultimate technique materialized, shattering the empty sky as it hurtled directly toward Yang Kai's face.
Yang Kai was furious. This old dog had clearly realized he couldn't dodge freely and was using ruthless moves to force him into a direct confrontation. If Chi Yue and the others weren't behind him, Yang Kai wouldn't be in such a passive position. But he simply couldn't disregard their safety.
Everyone present saw this situation clearly. Ruan Hongbo and the others looked embarrassed, secretly thinking that Qiu Ze possessed none of the bearing of an Emperor Realm powerhouse—he was nothing but a shameless rogue.
But they were all in the same boat now. Even if they despised him in their hearts, they didn't dare say a word.
"You think you can get away with anything just because I showed you a little respect? Have you no shame, old dog?!" Yang Kai roared in anger, channeling his Source Power into the Million Sword and meeting the attack head-on.
Where the sword edge passed, the spear light was completely cleaved apart, instantly disintegrating.
This time, Qiu Ze's expression truly changed drastically. A mere Third-Order Dao Source Realm brat could actually match him blow for blow. If Yang Kai didn't have his companions to worry about, would he, Qiu Ze, be no match at all?
After breaking through Qiu Ze's attack, Yang Kai didn't pause for even a moment. Flicking his fingers rapidly, over a dozen Moon Blades whistled through the air.
Qiu Ze's pupils contracted sharply. This time, he finally sensed it clearly. Those crescent-shaped, pitch-black energy attacks actually contained dense spatial power. As they fluctuated and shifted unpredictably, he couldn't grasp their trajectories at all.
"Space Laws?!" Qiu Ze cried out in alarm. His body trembled, and Emperor Intent erupted from him, forming an Emperor Domain that covered a ten-zhang radius around himself.
With the Emperor Domain manifested, he could finally discern the direction of the Moon Blades. His spear danced continuously, breaking each one apart.
In the blink of an eye, Qiu Ze was drenched in cold sweat, his face a picture of horror.