Wait...
An iron pot?
Li Jiao's eyes narrowed as something clicked in his mind. Dust-covered memories burst open, and a terrifying thought surfaced.
"This artifact..." Hua Xing had clearly recognized the iron pot as well, his face contorting with horror. "Could it possibly be—"
Before he could finish, a jolt of pain shot through his arm. Li Jiao had seized the moment of distraction to launch a sneak attack, blasting one of Hua Xing's arms into powder.
"You old dog, you set me up!" Hua Xing howled in grief and fury, scrambling backward to put distance between himself and Li Jiao. Blood geysered from the stump where his arm had been.
Li Jiao pressed forward, striking without mercy. "Food may be eaten carelessly, but words cannot be spoken carelessly. When did I ever set you up?"
"Who was it that told me these two had nothing to do with the Great Emperors?!" Hua Xing's face was twisted beyond recognition—half rage, half panic. If he had known the girl was connected to a Great Emperor, he never would have dared make an enemy of her, no matter what.
Li Jiao broke into a cold sweat. "If I said even I didn't know it would come to this, would you believe me?"
This was the honest truth. He knew Yang Kai's situation inside and out—the man had no connection to any Great Emperor. He had assumed the girl wouldn't amount to much either, but after seeing that dark, unremarkable pot that could instantly seal away even the descendant of a Sacred Spirit, he realized he had been dead wrong.
The girl wasn't merely connected to a Great Emperor. The connection ran deep.
And that Great Emperor was the most battle-hungry and savage among the ten great Emperor Sovereigns—one that even other Emperors didn't dare provoke lightly.
How could one afford to offend someone connected to that being?
"I believe your mother!" Hua Xing roared, erupting like a volcano. With his qi and blood surging in fury, his defenses collapsed into disarray, and he was battered by Li Jiao without the ability to fight back.
He could have held his own against Li Jiao for a while longer, but the succession of shocks had shattered his composure. Combined with the loss of an arm, the gap between them became immediately apparent.
Another strike landed, and Hua Xing was sent flying backward, spraying blood with every breath.
Before he could stabilize himself, a massive shape suddenly plummeted from the sky, its enormous shadow engulfing him completely.
Hua Xing's heart lurched. He looked up to see Yang Kai's grim face as a fist came crashing down.
He scrambled to defend himself, but every barrier crumbled like paper before that single punch.
The devastating force hammered him into the ground, carving a deep crater in the earth. Yang Kai pursued him down and planted a foot on his chest. Hua Xing froze, utterly pinned, his eyes filled with terror. "Spare me!"
Yang Kai gazed down at him, his voice flat. "Whether you live or die isn't my call." He turned to look toward Lin Yun'er and called out, "How should we deal with him?"
Lin Yun'er said, "Master says, if you cut the weeds but don't pull up the roots—"
Before she could finish, the force beneath Yang Kai's foot surged outward.
Hua Xing perished!
Li Jiao broke into a cold sweat all over.
That was a third-stage Emperor Sovereign—the helmsman of a top-tier sect—killed just like that, with absolutely no room for negotiation. Palace Master Yang was far too ruthless. But on second thought, this wasn't his first time doing something like this. Back in the Northern Region, he had wiped out the Wenqing Sect in one fell swoop. What was one Hua Xing in comparison?
He turned to glance at the chaotic Wind Cloud Pavilion and sighed inwardly. The Wind Cloud Pavilion was finished for good now. A great sect with ten thousand years of legacy, collapsed overnight—master, Grand Elder, every last elder, every elite disciple, not a single one spared. All dead to the last.
Truly a force of chaos. Back in the Northern Region, Palace Master Yang had turned everything upside down, and now in the Western Region, he showed not the slightest restraint.
But then he glanced at the girl again, and Li Jiao understood—even if Yang Kai tore the sky apart, nothing would happen to him. This girl... her background was extraordinary.
With a series of cracking and popping sounds, Yang Kai reverted to his original form.
The Flying Ink Dragon Armor had excellent elasticity. Without this treasure armor's protection, he would be stark naked once again.
"Arf arf arf!" The little black dog trotted over at a leisurely pace.
When the battle had been raging like a storm, it had vanished who-knows-where, but now that the dust had settled, it reappeared immediately. Its talent for seeking fortune and avoiding calamity was truly first-rate.
Yang Kai shot it an irritated glance but said nothing.
His body bore numerous wounds from the Yin-Yang Five Elements Grand Mutation Mysterious Sword Diagram—countless, running thick across his skin. The larger ones cut deep enough to show bone. He paid them no mind, simply producing a fresh set of clothing and dressing himself. He glanced sideways at Li Jiao. "Watch over the girl and clean up the battlefield. I'll be back shortly."
Li Jiao hastened to reply, "Rest assured, Palace Master Yang. I will protect the girl with my life."
Yang Kai nodded, and with a flicker of his figure, vanished entirely.
Inside the Wind Cloud Pavilion, chaos reigned. Countless disciples scrambled to flee.
The Pavilion Master was dead!
The Grand Elder was dead!
Every single member of the Elder Council was dead!
Even those elite Dao Source realm, third-layer cultivators had all been wiped out to the last!
The Wind Cloud Pavilion was doomed. No one was a fool—several calamitous figures had descended upon the sect, and if they didn't flee now, they'd only be waiting to die.
The massive sect, with its thousands of disciples, was emptied by roughly three-quarters in a mere quarter-hour. Every moment, figures shot into the sky on their flying swords, never once looking back.