(I have some matters to attend to today and need to go out, so there will only be one update. My apologies.)
Wu Chi was thoroughly stunned. He had never imagined that a Great Shaman could actually pull off something of this magnitude. He hastily thrust out his hand, and the flying skull immediately responded as though answering some silent summons, shrinking rapidly until he held it in his palm.
He lowered his gaze, and his fury blazed to life, his expression twisting into something savage.
His own shamanic artifact had been cracked!
This was a Shaman King's artifact. Under normal circumstances, no amount of assault could leave so much as a scratch on it, let alone a fissure. Yet now that hairline crack gaped like a grinning mouth, openly mocking his ignorance.
But just as he was examining the skull, he suddenly felt a violent tremor through his spiritual connection. He jerked his head up and bellowed, "Enough!"
That unremarkable Great Shaman had already flown over to another skull and was raising his sword to strike. Having learned his lesson the first time, Wu Chi needed no second reminder of the man's capabilities. He immediately recalled every skull — all of them still spewing frigid death energy, poised to reduce the entire village to a lifeless wasteland.
Six skulls whistled back to him like falling stars, orbiting his body before shrinking to their original size.
With the skulls gone, the death energy blanketing the village melted away like snow under a blazing sun.
Yang Kai rested the Million Sword across his shoulders and regarded Wu Chi with a broad, easy grin. "I'm not bragging — you'd better give me everything you've got."
The corner of Wu Chi's eye twitched. If any other Great Shaman had spoken to him like that, he would have dismissed it without a second thought. But this one... was different.
"Did you really kill You?" Wu Chi asked coldly.
Yang Kai replied, "Sort of and sort of not. In the end, he destroyed himself!"
"So it truly was you!" Wu Chi seethed. He had suspected as much before — with You's abilities, how could he have been killed so easily, and his stone fortress massacred to boot? Chi and Zhu simply didn't have the power to take You down. He had assumed a Shaman King from either the Gale or Fury Flame tribe must have intervened, but after experiencing Yang Kai's methods firsthand, he knew the man was telling the truth.
You had truly died at his hands. Otherwise, he couldn't have known such specific details.
You's power had been built largely upon his Blood Sea — the manifestation of his Blood Gourd artifact. And this Great Shaman who had killed him appeared to possess a formidable artifact of his own.
An ordinary shamanic artifact could never have harmed his skulls.
But still... he was only a Great Shaman. Even with a few tricks up his sleeve, Wu Chi had personally stepped in. Did the man really think he could escape alive?
"You'll pay the price for your arrogance!" Wu Chi growled. He suddenly raised both hands, and the six skulls intertwined with one another in a howling mass, hurtling straight toward Yang Kai. This time, however, they did not enlarge. They sacrificed some of their intimidating presence, but in exchange they became far more nimble and unpredictable.
In the blink of an eye, the six skulls had sealed off every angle around Yang Kai — above, below, and to every side — then each opened its maw and unleashed a torrent of frigid death energy.
The energy could freeze all things. Even a Shaman King would suffer greatly from the slightest touch. Yang Kai stood with sword in hand, his blade weaving a curtain of sword blossoms that formed an airtight defense.
A rapid clanging filled the air. None of the six skulls' full-force attacks managed to breach his guard; every strike was deflected by his sword qi, sending the skulls tumbling and bobbing.
Wu Chi, however, remained utterly composed, as though he had expected this outcome all along. A contemptuous smile curled his lips. His mouth moved in silent incantation, he flicked a finger, and a devastating shamanic spell launched without a sound, creeping toward Yang Kai from the blind side.
Yang Kai, whose body was angled away, seemed completely unaware. Deep within, Wu Chi sneered repeatedly, calmly awaiting the moment the man would be struck down.
But at that very instant, a transparent shamanic shield materialized out of thin air. The instant the shield appeared, a translucent specter slammed into it and let out a piercing wail.
Yang Kai didn't even glance at it. He simply flashed a grin, his right hand still parrying the six skulls while his left hand hurled a fireball the size of a washtub at the specter.
An even more agonized shriek rang out as the invisible ghost was annihilated into nothing.
Wu Chi's jaw dropped! The brat still had the presence of mind to counter his sneak attack? Where could he possibly find such powerful spiritual sense, enough to guard against hidden threats in the midst of such an intense battle?
Wu Chi's face had gone livid. He felt a deep, inexplicable sense of humiliation.
He was a Shaman King, yet against a mere Great Shaman he was being countered move for move?
Fuming with shame and rage, Wu Chi simultaneously kept the six skulls pressing their assault on Yang Kai while his hands danced, unleashing spell after spell in a relentless barrage that rained down upon the man from every direction.
Being defended against once did not mean the brat could keep it up forever. All he had to do was distract his attention, and his artifact would inevitably find an opening to deliver a killing blow.