One chapter today — heading out to pick up medicine shortly. Been treating my stomach for two months and it still isn't better. Two big cups of herbal medicine every day is driving me crazy.
…………………
Modo had not been on this land for long, but he knew the methods of these outsiders like the back of his hand. The sudden discovery that one of them could wield a completely different kind of power — and that this power could easily kill a Demon King of considerable strength — naturally piqued his interest.
So he took action personally. He wanted to capture this outsider alive and study this power in detail.
When he materialized before Yang Kai, he looked down at the outsider without the slightest courtesy, his powerful divine sense sweeping over the other man without restraint, as though he intended to examine every last detail inside and out.
The result left Modo somewhat shocked. Even he could not pierce deep into this outsider's sea of consciousness. There seemed to be some invisible layer of protection shrouding it — a force so formidable that even a Demon Saint found it hopeless to breach.
A truly peculiar fellow. Modo's interest only deepened. "What's your name?" he asked.
Yang Kai maintained his draconic transformation, warily eyeing the young man before him. Though this was their first meeting, Yang Kai knew exactly who he was. Those eyes — he recognized the feeling. It was the gaze of someone who had been watching him all along.
He sprang nimbly from the great crater, landing a hundred feet from Modo, dusted off his hands, and flashed a broad grin. "Your grandpa!" he spat.
The moment the words left his mouth, Yang Kai attacked. His palms came together and pulled apart in a single fluid motion, and an enormous moon blade coalesced, roaring toward Modo with a deafening rumble.
"Oh?" Modo furrowed his brow, a flicker of surprise crossing his face — though it was quickly overtaken by delight. He did not dodge. Instead, he reached out with one hand to seize the pitch-black moon blade, as though he wanted to feel its power firsthand.
The blade sheared through his hand, banishing half his arm into the void. Blood surged from the wound immediately.
Modo's expression grew even more excited, as though he had stumbled upon something wonderfully novel. Far from retreating in pain, he took a step forward.
Yang Kai's storm of attacks descended right on schedule. Having launched the moon blade, he had already lunged toward Modo, meeting the Demon Saint head-on as he advanced.
Two dragon claws became a sky full of shadow-claws, engulfing Modo in an instant.
Hissing sounds filled the air without pause. Blood erupted from Modo's body in gouts, and his form quickly fell apart, fragmenting into pieces.
In barely three breaths, Demon Saint Modo had perished, reduced to a pile of mush.
The Demon Kings watching from the distance stood dumbstruck, staring at the scene, wishing they could gouge out their own eyes and toss them closer for a better look.
Demon Saint Modo… was dead?
How was that possible? And he had not been killed by one of the outsider royalty or a saint-level powerhouse — it had been some completely unknown, obscure nobody.
Yang Kai himself was slightly dazed. The moment Modo had appeared before him, he had sensed the man's overwhelming power. This was a being on par with a Great Emperor! That kind of aura could only emanate from a Great Emperor.
Yet a being like that had been killed by him in just a few strikes?
There was no joy in the realization. Instead, a trace of unease crept in.
He quickly understood where the unease came from — because Modo, who should have been dead, had inexplicably appeared behind him, as though everything Yang Kai had just experienced had been nothing but an illusion.
But Yang Kai knew it was no illusion. The sensation of contact and the spray of blood had all been far too real. If it had been an illusion, he would have been able to tell.
Standing behind him, Modo spread his arms wide. Demonic energy swirled around his fingertips, rapidly converging and condensing into a cage of darkness, as though he intended to take Yang Kai alive.
Would Yang Kai simply stand there and wait to be captured? Facing a foe on the level of a Great Emperor, he unleashed his trump card from the very first exchange.
*Ding…* — a soft chime. An ancient, unadorned bell appeared in his palm. Its surface was engraved with patterns of mountains and rivers, birds and fish, beasts and creatures of every kind, and the entire artifact radiated an aura of primordial antiquity.
The Mountain and River Bell!
Though controlling such an Emperor-grade treasure still taxed Yang Kai's current strength, it was unquestionably the most powerful weapon in his arsenal.
At the sound of the bell, Modo's brow furrowed. The pitch-black demonic energy streaming from his ten fingers contracted sharply toward the ground, and the cage that had been about to close left a gap in an instant. Yang Kai's reflexes were lightning-fast — he shot through the opening and spun around, hurling the Mountain and River Bell downward.
The small bell spun, expanding rapidly, and plummeted toward Modo like a dome of iron.
Modo looked up, wanting to flee, only to discover with a start that everything within the bell's range had been sealed. Even with his strength, breaking free would take no small effort.
Before he could employ any method, the Mountain and River Bell crashed down with a thunderous boom, crushing him beneath its weight.
Yang Kai's expression turned cold. He charged forward and slapped the bell with everything he had.
*Guang…*
A colossal reverberation erupted. Visible shockwaves radiated outward from the Mountain and River Bell in all directions. The Demon Kings who had been moving in to assist were struck by the soundwave and plummeted from the sky like birds with broken wings, their faces frozen in a mixture of shock and bewilderment. Those whose strength was slightly weaker vomited mouthfuls of blood, as though struck by lightning.