Crackle...
Faint sounds drifted out, enough to make one's heart race. The old man hiding in Room Seven had gone pale, his eyes bulging in disbelief that Yang Kai actually possessed such terrifying strength.
One punch had torn a crack in the restriction formation. If he threw a few more...
Damn the Seven Radiance Trading Company and their worthless formation—it was completely useless. The old man cursed inwardly.
While he was still reeling, Yang Kai flipped his hand and summoned the Million Sword. The blade hummed as sword light pierced the heavens, slashing fiercely forward.
BOOM...
The force of that single strike seemed capable of tearing the sky apart, inverting heaven and earth. The Emperor Realm cultivators in the surrounding private boxes all watched with grim expressions, finally recognizing just how powerful Yang Kai truly was.
And the already-cracked restriction barrier shattered completely under that sword, dissolving into scattered motes of light before vanishing.
Room Seven was left entirely exposed and defenseless.
Yang Kai swept another sword strike outward, tearing the room open. A pale-faced old man with eyes wide in terror stared back at him.
Yang Kai blurred forward and charged straight into Room Seven. Hefting the broad, blade-like Million Sword onto his shoulder, he pointed at the old man and declared with overwhelming bravado, "Old thing, hand over the head."
Stumble, stumble, stumble—
The old man lurched backward in alarm and snarled through gritted teeth, "Friend, if you don't act now, when will you?"
With that, he surged his Emperor Yuan and lunged at Yang Kai. His hands formed into claws, and behind him an eagle phantom flashed past, exploding into a sky-full of claw shadows. The assault was vicious—clearly aimed at ripping Yang Kai's guts out.
Though the old man recognized that Yang Kai was not to be trifled with, he believed himself to be at the first level of the Emperor Realm as well, and with Room Thirteen's backing, he wasn't overly afraid. His attack was merciless—he clearly intended to kill.
But just as he was about to reach Yang Kai, a massive foot suddenly swung toward his face. Dense Emperor Yuan churned upon it. The move looked unremarkable, yet it somehow shattered every last one of his claw shadows with pinpoint accuracy and smashed squarely into his nose.
The old man instinctively tried to dodge, only to discover in horror that the surrounding space had solidified—he couldn't move an inch.
With a thunderous crack, the old man went flying, slamming into the wall behind him and sliding limply to the ground. Stars exploded across his vision, his head spinning. His nose felt completely flattened.
When he opened his eyes again, the flat of a broad sword was pressed against his neck, cold to the touch. Yang Kai stood before him with a mocking smirk, his expression dripping with contempt.
The old man was horrified. Both of them were at the first level of the Emperor Realm, yet he hadn't even lasted a single exchange? He'd been floored without even understanding what happened.
This... this was still the first level of the Emperor Realm?!
Gasps echoed from the surrounding private boxes. No one could comprehend what they'd just witnessed.
They had watched the entire fight clearly enough. Yang Kai had broken the restriction formation, then clashed head-on with the Azure Sky Gate's Master—and somehow the Gate Master ended up on the ground with his life at someone else's mercy.
It was all too bewildering. If they hadn't seen it with their own eyes, they'd never have believed such a thing was possible.
The Azure Sky Gate Master was, after all, a first-level Emperor Realm cultivator. How could he have been so utterly helpless against an opponent of the same realm?
"You had backup?" Yang Kai sneered, his gaze drifting casually toward Room Thirteen.
At the entrance of Room Thirteen, the door stood wide open. A middle-aged man was frozen inside, posed as though about to rush out, but his body was rigid—locked in place as if time itself had stopped.
Before him, Ying Fei stood with arms crossed, leaning lazily against the doorframe. His hawk-like eyes regarded the man with a leisurely smile.
No hostility, no detectable aura—not even a hint of his cultivation level. Yet this very person made the middle-aged man feel cold to the bone, frozen in place while sweat poured down his forehead in heavy drops.
Some primal instinct told him this person could snuff out his life at will. So despite hearing the Azure Sky Gate Master's cry for help, he couldn't take a single step.
"Go on back. Young Master Yang will come to visit you shortly." Ying Fei waved the man off gently.
The middle-aged man swallowed hard, quietly shut the door, and retreated. He collapsed into his chair, trembling like a sieve.
In Room Seven, Yang Kai flashed a wolfish grin at the Azure Sky Gate Master. "Looks like you've been abandoned."
He knew perfectly well what had happened to the Emperor Realm cultivator in Room Thirteen. With Ying Fei guarding the door, that man couldn't have escaped even with wings—let alone come to help.
But those words turned the Gate Master's face ashen in an instant.
He had thought that since he and Yang Kai were at the same level, there was little to fear. With Room Thirteen's support, two against one, there was no need to take Yang Kai seriously. But after a single exchange, he knew he'd been catastrophically wrong.
This first-level Emperor Realm cultivator was nothing like any he'd encountered before.
What infuriated him even more was that Room Thirteen had gone completely silent.