Emperor Yuan surged as the crowd pressed in, a great battle on the verge of erupting.
Facing more than a dozen Emperor realm cultivators attacking in unison, Yang Kai not only showed no intention of dodging but actually burst into hearty laughter, drawing confused glances from everyone present. They had no idea what was wrong with this fellow.
But at this point the arrow was already on the string — even if the others sensed something was off, they had no way to stop. Every last one of them was eyeing the Spatial Ring on Yang Kai's hand.
In the blink of an eye, over a dozen figures lunged at Yang Kai, unleashing their own techniques in a ferocious barrage of attacks.
"Solidify!" A cold shout rang out. Under the influence of Space Laws, the space within a hundred-zhang radius instantly grew viscous and stiff, as though it had been turned to solid glass.
The sudden change sent the attackers into a panic. The Emperor Yuan in their bodies suddenly faltered, flowing sluggishly as though they had sunk into a deep swamp. It felt as though every step required monumental effort. The power of their techniques plummeted, and even the Emperor Treasures they had summoned dimmed visibly.
"What?!" Their faces contorted in shock, and when they tried to withdraw, it was already too late.
Yang Kai raised both hands, projecting a sky full of palm shadows that hammered forward.
A series of explosive booms tore through the air, and figure after figure was sent tumbling backward in miserable disarray, each one spraying blood from their mouth mid-flight, their faces pale as paper.
Smack, smack, smack…
More than a dozen Emperor realm cultivators fell to the ground like dumplings from a pot. When they managed to stagger back to their feet, every last one wore an ashen expression, their souls shaken to the core.
Yang Kai, for his part, clearly had not found it effortless to repel so many Emperor realm opponents at once. His figure swayed slightly, though he did not retreat a single step, and the color drained from his face only briefly before returning to normal.
Still, that silhouette stood tall and unyielding before the mountain gate, like a divine pillar pinning the heavens in place — serene and immovable, guarding this stretch of earth.
"How is this possible?!"
"He's only at the first level of the Emperor realm?"
"How… how did he do that?"
…
A deep sense of unreality welled up inside the hearts of those dozen-plus Emperor realm cultivators, as though they had wandered into some kind of dream.
Before this, they had not known Yang Kai's true strength, but judging by his youth, they had assumed his cultivation was not particularly high and had accordingly paid him little mind. The facts had seemed to confirm their guess — the moment Yang Kai made his move, his cultivation was fully exposed.
He was indeed at the first level of the Emperor realm, without a doubt. Weaker than every single one of them, not stronger.
Yet it was precisely this first-level Emperor realm cultivator who, single-handedly, had shattered their combined assault in an instant and left every one of them injured.
If this had not happened to them personally, no one would have believed it. It was simply absurd.
Li Qingyuan, who stood at the second level of the Emperor realm, was particularly shaken. He had roamed the Northern Region for years and never encountered anything this bizarre. He had fought first-level Emperor realm cultivators plenty of times — it had always been him doing the crushing. But who among them had ever been this savage?
The greedy, covetous glances gradually receded, replaced by expressions of the utmost gravity.
It was said that in this world there existed certain martial arts prodigies who, despite their lower cultivation, could fight above their level or even kill opponents far stronger. Li Qingyuan had encountered such people before. But those so-called prodigies had at best fought him to a draw. Compared to the young man before him now, they were nothing but mediocrities.
This person before him was not merely fighting above his level. He was taking on more than a dozen opponents simultaneously without being at any disadvantage.
Li Qingyuan even suspected that this young man had not been using his full power. If he had, then perhaps half of them would have been dead already!
At that thought, cold sweat suddenly beaded on Li Qingyuan's forehead…
At just the first level of the Emperor realm, he was already this terrifying. If he advanced to the second or even third level, wouldn't he be invincible under heaven? By then, probably only those who had ascended to the throne of Great Emperor would be a match for him.
"Just who are you?!" someone screamed in desperation, still unwilling to accept that he had been sent flying. He suspected Yang Kai had won through some trick and felt a deep, indignant refusal to concede.
This was the question everyone wanted answered. A young man of such extraordinary ability could not possibly be some unknown upstart — at the very least, they should have heard his name before.
Yang Kai turned his head and glanced at the person who had shouted, then grinned broadly and declared in a clear voice: "I am Yang Kai. I don't imagine any of you are unfamiliar with the name!"
"Hssss… He's Yang Kai?"
"The Yang Kai who killed Feng Xi in the Shattered Star Sea and sent Feng Xuan into a rage?"
"The one who set off the great war between Ice Heart Valley and the Wenqing Sect?"