For Yang Kai's sake, Ruoxi would gladly give up her own life—what was a few slaps to her own face?
"What do you think you're doing?" Luan Feng's elegant brows knitted together as she reached out, freezing Ruoxi in place with a single gesture.
Her cultivation, which surpassed even the third level of the Emperor realm, made restraining someone like Zhang Ruoxi trivially easy. Enveloped by that inexplicable restriction, Ruoxi could neither move nor even open her mouth to speak. Her upraised hand hovered mid-air, and the tears in her eyes had nearly run dry.
"Kid, are you even a man? To have sunk so low that a little girl has to do this for you—ants really are ants. How utterly laughable!" Shi Huo cackled as though watching the most riveting spectacle, all while ruthlessly grinding Yang Kai into the ground.
Crack, crack, crack…
The sounds of several more bones shattering rang out.
Yang Kai clenched his teeth, enduring the searing agony as he swallowed the blood filling his mouth. He glared at the stone giant before him and snarled viciously: "Shi Huo, you want this young master's life? Fine—I'll give it to you. Let Ruoxi and the Stone Spirit clan leave first, and this young master will submit to whatever you wish!"
"What right does an ant have to bargain with this sovereign?" Shi Huo snorted coldly, lashing out with a kick that caught Yang Kai square in the ribs, sending him hurtling through the air.
Smack…
His battered figure hit the ground, rolling end over end.
Ruoxi, pinned in place, strained her eyes to look toward Yang Kai, her gaze a mixture of despair and anguish. From eye sockets long emptied of tears, thin streaks of crimson began to seep forth—a redness that seemed to harbor some strange, alien power, silently radiating outward.
But at that moment, every eye in the arena was locked on Yang Kai and Shi Huo, so not a single person noticed. Not even Ruoxi herself was aware of it.
A faint trace of savage fury began to breed in her heart, and the blood throughout her body began to churn and boil…
"Hmm?" Shi Huo furrowed his brow, then extended his massive hand and made a grabbing gesture. A tremendous suction force pulled Yang Kai up from the ground and back into his grip. Shi Huo cocked his head, studying the young man up and down, clicking his tongue in amazement: "This ant's body… is somewhat peculiar."
An Emperor realm cultivator at the first level. After being thrashed like that, by all logic he should have been dead long ago, yet Yang Kai was still alive and breathing—albeit with a weakened aura. His vitality was undeniable.
"Shi Huo, don't push me!" Yang Kai growled in a low, rasping voice, like a maddened beast.
Shi Huo's brows shot up, and he burst into hearty laughter. "Push you? So what if I do? What—are you going to kill me?"
Even as he spoke, Shi Huo swung his colossal fist and hammered it into Yang Kai's body again and again.
Boom, boom, boom…
Every blow landed like a small mountain crashing down. Inside Yang Kai's body, the crisp sounds of shattering bones rang out one after another. His body was flung violently in every direction, but bound in Shi Huo's grasp, he had no way to break free—he could only passively endure the relentless pummeling.
The corners of his eyes split open, his head was a bloody mess. His once handsome face was now so swollen that it was barely recognizable. Shi Huo had beaten him until his hair hung wild and loose, his entire body drenched in blood…
Such humiliation. Such degradation.
It was an experience Yang Kai had never known since the day he first set foot on the path of cultivation.
BOOM…
Shi Huo's fist descended once more, slamming Yang Kai's legs with enough force to snap them clean through. He collapsed to his knees, yet his torso remained ramrod straight—like a spear planted in the earth.
The Demon Kings watched with complex expressions across the vast arena, the silence so thick one could hear a pin drop.
Even though humans and demons were different races, even though Yang Kai had caused them no small amount of trouble this time—watching him endure such brutal torment without ever breaking, these Demon Kings couldn't help but feel a stirring of respect. The man truly deserved to be called a man.
In comparison, Shi Huo's arrogance and unbridled cruelty seemed almost inhuman.
You kill a man, you kill a man—why torture him like this?
But Shi Huo was one of the four great Saints after all, and while the Demon Kings harbored their thoughts, not one dared voice them. All they could do was cast Yang Kai looks of admiration and sympathy. Xie Wuwei wanted to plead on Yang Kai's behalf, but at a time like this, he wouldn't dare step forward and invite misfortune.
"That's enough, Shi Huo!"
Fan Wu's voice rang out, his expression dark and grim.
An opinion the Demon Kings dared not voice, he could.
"Tormenting an opponent far weaker than yourself is nothing to boast about." Fan Wu let out a cold snort, nearly unable to watch any longer. "If you want to kill him, then give him a clean death. Stop this pointless spectacle."
At this, Shi Huo let out a derisive scoff, seemingly displeased—but he still seized Yang Kai by the hair and lifted his head.
Yang Kai's face was a swollen ruin, every feature smeared with blood to the point where one could barely distinguish nose from eye. In the place where his eyes should have been, only a pair of thin, slightly narrowed slits remained—and within them, a faint glimmer of light still shone.
His gaze drifted toward Ruoxi, and he cracked a grin.
Ruoxi's entire body convulsed with a violent shudder. Bright crimson blood poured from her eyes like twin rivers of tears, streaking down her cheeks to leave two ghastly trails—ghastly and terrifying.
Having followed Yang Kai for so many years, she knew his strength better than anyone, knew every card he held in his hand.
Master could have fought back.
He still had the sealing power of the ancient Great Demon. He still held the might of the Small World of the Profound Realm. He still possessed the Primordial Power of the Golden Sacred Dragon…
Ruoxi believed that if Master had chosen to unleash those forces, even if he couldn't defeat Shi Huo, he would have had more than enough strength to escape from this place.
Yet even as Shi Huo had beaten him into a pulp, he had never once used any of that power. And even now, suspended between life and death, he showed no intention of doing so.